Coming Of The Storm
by Broken Stone
Summary: Sequel to Dust In The Void. The TARDIS lands on a planet where most of the inhabitants have left and the rest of the population are dying. The Doctor finds himself caught up in events caused by an ancient prophecy. 10th Doctor.
1. The Random Path

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their origianl packaging.**

**WARNING: This is a sequel. If you haven't read Dust In The Void, then certain things, especially the inclusion of one particular character, will make no sense to you! You have been warned!**

**Story Summary: Sequel to Dust In The Void. The TARDIS lands on a planet where most of the inhabitants have left and the rest of the population are dying. The Doctor finds himself caught up in events caused by an ancient prophecy.**

**Chapter One: The Random Path**

'So that's what the twenty-first century looked like,' Xan observed, shutting the door of the TARDIS behind him. He dropped a couple of shopping bags on the floor.

'Pretty much,' Rose said. She was smiling, her arms laden with carrier bags. 'You like it?'

He wrinkled his nose. 'Not sure.'

'Be glad you didn't meet Rose's Mum on this little trip,' the Doctor said from the control console of the TARDIS.

'Oy!' Rose said sharply.

He grinned. 'Meeting your mum's an experience, is all I have to say on that subject. How about we go a little further afield? You got to admit, for Xan's first expedition, twenty-first century Earth's a little bit tame.'

Rose returned the grin and said to Xan, 'Come on, let's go put the shopping away.'

'You've got all the shops across the universe to chose from and you still insist on going to Tesco for milk,' the Doctor said.

'Stick with what you know,' Rose said, hefting bags up into her arms.

'If you actually did that, you would still be in that shop of yours.'

'No, I wouldn't,' she said. 'The reason being, you blew it up.'

He smiled reflectively. 'Oh, yeah.'

Rose rolled his eyes and inclined her head for Xan to follow her.

'What was that about?' he asked.

'We met when he blew up the place I was working at,' she explained. 'It's a long story, I'll tell you late. Fancy a cup of tea?'

He frowned. 'What?'

'Tea.' She stared. 'You've never had tea?'

He shook his head.

Rose laughed. 'Wow. Come on, I'll make you one. And show you where the kitchen is in this place. He seems to occasionally forget that we need to eat and have the occasionally cup of tea, so it's up to me to make sure we get food and stuff. I think he's forgotten where the kitchen is.'

'What's a kitchen?' Xan asked.

Rose stopped and stared at him again. He burst out laughing at her expression. 'What kind of idiot do you take me for?' he asked, smiling. 'Of course I know what a kitchen is.'

She punched his arm lightly. 'Stop it. Come on, we'll finish your tour of the TARDIS. Or rather, the tour of what parts I know my way around.'

'The physics inside this thing are incredible,' Xan said. 'I can't get over it.'

The Doctor heard most of this conversation, although he didn't comment or yell any of his usual helpful or unhelpful comments. He seemed absored in examining something on the controls of the TARDIS and barely seemed to notice when Rose brought him a cup of tea.

'You have a knack for this,' the Doctor said to her in a thoughtful tone.

She looked puzzled. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'He's what, the fourth man we've found that you've flirted with. I'm beginning to think you look for them.' He gave her a crooked smile, indicating this was meant as a joke.

Rose folded her arms, smiling, putting her head on one side. 'Feeling threatened, are we?'

'I'm sure I don't know what you mean,' he sniffed.

'Well, he's very good-looking.'

'Is he? I hadn't noticed.'

'Even you can't miss it,' Rose said, leaning her back against the console. 'Seriously attractive, would be a male model back on Earth, I reckon.'

'Thanks, I had no idea you felt that way about me.'

'I wasn't talking about you – '

'Thanks!'

'Although of course, you're quite attractive too,' she amended quickly, rolling her eyes. 'Men.'

'Adam, Jack and Mickey and now Xan,' the Doctor muttered. 'Four, count 'em.' He waved the fingers of one hand at her, grinning.

'You said he could come with us,' she reminded him.

'Yes, but I didn't know you were going to be flirting with him.'

'What else can I do with a bloke like that?' When the Doctor raised an eyebrow at her, she said hurriedly, 'That's not quite what I meant.'

'I'm sure I have no idea what you mean,' he said primly.

'Sure you do,' Xan said, returning. He gave the Doctor a wide grin. 'You want me to spell it out for you?'

'I'm nine hundred years old,' the Doctor said coldly. 'I do not need either of you to spell anything out for me. I could probably give both of you some tips.'

Xan laughed.

'Is it me or are you jealous?' Rose teased, grinning mischivously.

'Jealous? Of what? Him?' He inclined his head at Xan.

Xan smiled and drawled, 'Weeeeel, you wouldn't be the first.' He gave Rose a dazzling smile loaded with charm and charisma.

She giggled. 'He's gone red, too,' she stage-whispered, nodding at the Doctor.

The Doctor slammed his hand down on the TARDIS controls. 'Do you two children mind?'

'You're just jealous you've got competition for the best looking male aboad,' Rose told him.

The Doctor shook his head, finally smiling at the absurd conversation, and finally realising that he was the only one taking this remotely seriously and that he shouldn't be, not really. 'Shall we go somewhere?' he said, changing the subject. 'Any suggestions?'

Rose looked at Xan. 'Anywhere you want to go? Any time and place in the universe?'

'Not really,' he said, smiling. 'I'm happy to go anywhere.' He looked over at the Doctor. 'Are we going to go anywhere in particular?'

'Sometimes his driving's a bit erratic,' Rose said in an undertone.

'The entirety of time and space is quite big,' the Doctor said, not looking up. 'I'm bound to miss sometimes.'

_A lot of the time,_ Rose mouthed to Xan who laughed.

'Let's set our course onto a random path, shall we?' the Doctor said, scowling at them both.

'If you like,' Rose said. She looked quickly at Xan. 'Takes a bit of getting used to, this time and space travel!'

'Okay, let's go!' the Doctor yelled. 'Rose, I want you to hold on that and that and Xan, you're to hold down that and the fire extiguisher. I reckon your reflexes are better than Rose's.'

'Hey!'

The Doctor looked at her. 'It's true,' he said.

'It is,' Xan agreed, grabbing hold of the fire extinguisher. 'Is this thing likely to catch fire?' he asked, sounding alarmed.

'She has done,' the Doctor said, perfectly cheerful. 'Long as you're quick off the mark, we'll be fine! Here we go!' He began to press buttons, spin wheels and flick switches. A flurry of golden sparks exploded out of the controls. The Doctor laughed and practically danced around the TARDIS, then banged his fist down on one of the controls and leapts backwards. 'Let's fly!' he yelled.

'Where are we going!' Rose hollered.

'When are we going!' Xan shouted.

'Who knows?' he yelled back, a wide grin plastered across his face. 'Who cares? Let's ride!'

The TARDIS raced through time, hurtled past stars and planets and spun through the blackness of void, on and on, and where she was headed no of them could guess.


	2. Health and Safety

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their original packaging.**

**Chapter Two**

'You should really get some seatbelts for this thing,' Xan remarked indistinctly.

'More fun this way,' the Doctor said in a muffled voice.

'Or at least stick some cushions on the walls.'

'Why would I want to do that?' the Doctor asked, in a tone of genuine bewilderment.

'Shut up both of you and get up,' Rose said faintly.

The three of them were lying in a pile in a corner of the TARDIS. Everything inside, including its passengers, had gone flying into one corner when they had crashed landed somewhere, and now they were all buried under a pile of debris.

'It's a matter of health and safety,' Xan said, getting to his feet and offering Rose a hand. She took it and he pulled her up. 'You could get seriously hurt by crashing this thing. Do you have a licence to fly?'

'Are you serious?' the Doctor said, giving him a funny look. 'It's all part of the fun.' He looked at Rose. 'Isn't it?'

'I'm with him on this one,' she said, nodding at Xan.

Xan smirked. 'I really can't talk,' he confessed.

'No?' The Doctor smiled slightly. 'Why?'

'I once flew a space cruiser through a meteor storm.'

The Doctor threw his head back and laughed. 'You never!'

'I did.' Xan grinned, looking pleased with himself. 'It was great. I got disciplined for it later, but it was so worth it.'

'What's a space cruiser?' Rose asked him.

'It's a form of transport for maybe five or six people for short trips into space,' Xan explained. He grinned. 'I was the best pilot in my training class and someone bet me I couldn't get through a meteor storm without a single scratch on my cruiser.'

'Did you?' the Doctor asked with great interest, examining the console of the TARDIS.

'I sure did.' Xan shook his head. 'Tell me something, did you ever take a test to drive this?'

'Hey, flying a TARDIS is the test.' Doctor looked proud. 'Mine is probably the only species in the universe capable of utilising a TARDIS to its full potential. You monkeys can't even come close.'

'However,' Xan said mildly, 'I am capable of making your mind turn to soup and come down your nose, so watch it, mate.' He grinned.

The Doctor smiled and gave a little laugh, as if he appreciated that this was a joke, but that he saw something underneath Xan's joking manner that wasn't funny at all.

'Well,' Rose said brightly, 'I think we should step outside and take a look around. What do you say?'

'Good idea,' Xan said cheerfully.

Rose hurried over to the door and threw it open. She sighed. Xan looked out over her shoulder and frowned. The Doctor watched them both, bemused, and then followed them.

'Well, we've been to more interesting places,' Rose said, sounding disappointed.

'Wow,' Xan said flatly.

The Doctor shrugged. 'We can't get ancient civilisations, incredible cities and beautiful landscapes every time, folks.'

'I think this qualifies as an ancient civilisation,' Xan said. 'So ancient it's dead and buried with a stake through its heart.'

Even the Doctor had to agree roughly with that statement. What lay outside the TARDIS was a dull, barren landscape the colour of dull rain clouds. It was grey. Everything was grey. The ground was grey, the sky was grey, what little vegetation was scattered around was grey and the crumbling ruins surrounding them were also grey.

These ruins were barely ruins, they were so ancient. There were a few walls tumbling down nearby and shapeless pillars that might once have been statues but the place had clearly been ravaged by time and the elements and now it was barely recognisable as the ruins of some kind of settlement. There was almost nothing to indicate that there had ever been life here and what there was would soon be gone.

'It looks like the bottom of an abandoned quarry,' Rose observed.

'It does a bit,' the Doctor said. He was staring past the ruins, to a wall of stone some way away.

'Looks like this place was deserted years ago, if not centuries,' Rose continued.

'You'd think,' the Doctor said thoughtfully. 'Did either of you see that?'

'See what?' Xan asked. He had been looking in the other direction.

'I saw a – shadow,' Rose said slowly.

'It was a movement,' the Doctor said. 'There's something there.'

Xan frowned, concentrating. 'I can't feel anything…' he said slowly.

'I saw a shadow again!' Rose exclaimed. 'It moved!'

'Very slight,' Xan said, looking up. 'Getting stronger. There's something there, intelligent life. It's afraid.'

'Of what?' Rose asked.

'Us, probably,' the Doctor said. 'Shall we take a look around?'

'Sure, if you think it's safe,' Rose said.

He gave a lop-sided smile. 'Since when have we ever worried about safe?'

'True,' she nodded. 'Coming, Xan?'

The hybrid nodded, tucking his hands into his pockets. 'We're being watched,' he said as he walked slowly after them.

'You know who by?' the Doctor asked.

'No.'

'Having a telepath is useful?' Rose queried, seeing the Doctor frown.

'Yes, it is,' he said, still frowning.

'You're worried, though.' She glanced over her shoulder at Xan. 'I thought you trusted him?'

'Oh, I do,' he assured her quickly. 'I'm just – concerned. I think we're going to have to have a little talk about his abilities and exactly how far they extend.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'He's a hybrid, Rose. That means we can't say what his abilities really are and he's young – he probably doesn't know himself.'

'That's a problem?'

'Could be, for him.' The Doctor saw her expression. 'And us. Don't worry, I'm not worried about him hurting us or anyone deliberately. I'm more worried about him hurting someone by accident – or hurting himself.'

'This sounds serious,' she muttered.

'It could be.' He brightened. 'On the other hand, I could just be worrying about nothing.'

'But you don't think you are.'

He shrugged but didn't reply and that shrug could have meant anything.

'Hey, come and take a look at this,' Xan called. He was stood quite some way away from them, looking at something that neither of them could see. They hurried over.

'You found something?' Rose asked.

He gave her a half amused, half irritated look. 'No, I just felt like making you do some work. Of course I found something.'

'That's – unexpected,' the Doctor said.

'What, that he found something?' Rose quipped and grinned when Xan pulled a face at her.

'No,' the Doctor said, thoughtfully. 'That.' He pointed and this time Rose saw it too.

It was a small, black crack in what had previously appeared to be a rocky wall. He crouched down and peered inside, carefully flashing the sonic screwdriver into the black chasm.

'See anything?' Rose asked.

'Not sure,' the Doctor murmured. 'Although…I think there might be something…it's a hidden door, people.' He reached inside with the hand holding the sonic screwdriver and there was a high-pitched buzzing. 'Ah, got it,' he said, sounding pleased. He got up and kicked the wall.

It creaked and then slowly swung open.

'There we are,' the Doctor said, rubbing his hands together. 'The right amount of force in the right place can do wonders, don't you think?'

'Depends,' Xan said absently.

'Shall we take a look?' The Doctor was wearing that wide, almost child-like smile that said he was dying to go take a look, no matter what turned out to be in those dark depths.

'Let's go!' Rose said eagerly.

The Doctor stepped into the darkness and the other two followed him. Using the sonic screwdriver to illuminate their way, they could just about see in the dim blue glow. The passage way was narrow, hewn out of the grey rock, the roof clearing their heads by several feet in places, then dropping so low that the Doctor and Xan both had to ducked to avoid hitting their heads. In other places the three of them could walk beside each other, and in others they had to move sideways to get through. The passage seemed to have no end and was leading them deeper and deeper under ground.

'Maybe we should go back,' the Doctor said eventually.

'Never thought I would ever hear you say that,' Rose said. 'But I think I would have to agree with that – '

Xan's hand grabbed her shoulder and he hissed, 'Quiet!' She froze, more in surprise than anything and Xan dropped his voice lower. 'We're not alone,' he breathed. 'Theirs is someone else here. Several someones.'

Everything went very quiet.

'There's no one here,' the Doctor said, shining the light around.

Xan stared at him. 'I can feel them!' he snapped. 'They're here!'

'Where?' the Doctor asked, quite calmly.

Xan took a deep breath. 'I'm not exactly sure – ' he began, when something hurtled out of the darkness and crashed into him. The domino effect sent Rose tumbling to the ground, taking the Doctor down with her. The sonic screw driver fell onto the ground and rolled a few feet away. There was more shouting and more shadows appeared from the darkness, leaping out from cracks in the ceiling, from around corners ahead and behind them. The Doctor ran for the sonic screwdriver, crashing past several dim figures as he did so, hurled himself to the ground and grabbed it before it fell down a narrow crack in the floor. He heard screams and shouts and Rose yelling furiously. He rolled over onto his back and made to leap up.

A knife point pressed down against his throat. He looked up.

'Hello,' he said cheerfully and waved the sonic screwdriver. 'Sorry, just needed to grab this.'

The face staring down at him was humanoid, covered in black and grey markings that the Doctor realised were caused by face paint. It was dressed in loose fitting grey clothing that was also streaked in places with the paint, creating an effect camouflage for the caves. The knife was in fact a sword, roughly crafted from some dull coloured metal that was smeared with black paint to take the shine off the blade, but however rough or crude the weapon it was, the edge was razor sharp.

'Get up,' the figure said. The voice was female.

The Doctor got slowly to his feet, holding his hands up in the air. The woman prodded his arm with her sword.

'What is that?' she demanded, gesturing to the sonic screwdriver.

'It's a tool,' he said.

'Drop it.'

He did so, although reluctantly. She kicked it away and one of the other figures picked it up quickly and carefully, hiding it away in a pocket somewhere. Another figure came forwards and proceeded to tie the Doctor's wrists securely.

There was a faint light in the caves now, emitting from white coloured stones that the people wore looped around their necks or tied onto the end of a spear. It was a warm, welcoming light, easy to see by.

The Doctor looked over at Rose. She was being tied up, her wrists bound tightly behind her back. She gave him a shaky smile, but apart from a couple of bruises and a scratch on her face, she looked fine. Xan did not look quite so fine. There was a bloody gash down the side of his face which was dripping blood, his nose was bleeding and there a ring of bruising around his left eye. Several of their attackers were holding his arms, one with a short bladed knife held against his throat so hard that it was drawing blood. He was being tied far more tightly than Rose had been, the narrow ropes cutting visibly into his wrists. Quite a few of the group around him were bearing nasty cuts and bruises, far worse than what he had suffered, and there were a couple of broken noses there. A couple were still on the ground, groaning as they came round. Clearly, Xianfrith had not taken being attacked at all well and their attackers were taking no chances with him.

'You are trespassers,' the woman said to the Doctor. 'You must come with us.'

'Where are we going?' the Doctor asked.

'Be quiet.' She gestured sharply and three of the other figures dropped black cloth bags over the heads of the Doctor, Rose and Xan. 'You must be blindfolded,' the woman continued.

The Doctor wanted to protest, but decided that now would not be the time to start making a fuss. They hadn't been killed so far, so that was a good sign. Or not, as the case may be. He decided to keep that thought to himself. 'All right,' he said. 'We'll come with you.' He guessed that both his companions would be intelligent enough not to make a fuss about this and come quietly.

'Good. Try to escape and you will die.' Someone took hold of the Doctor's arm and pulled him along, not gently and not very carefully either, since he kept tripping over cracks and bumps in the cave floor and several times hit his head on the cave ceiling. He wondered exactly what was going to happen to them when they finally reached wherever they were going.


	3. Solenistra and Solia

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their origianl packaging. **

**Chapter Three: Solenistra and Solia**

A hand shoved the Doctor forwards sharply. He stumbled and with his hands tied behind his back, he almost fell. The hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder, stopping him from falling.

There were quiet sounds from all around them. The Doctor turned his head, trying to hear something that might tell him exactly what was going on, but in vain. Someone pushed him forwards again and when he refused to move, they said, 'Move!' and jabbed him in the back with what felt like the sharp edge of a spear. Reluctantly, he started to walk again, but hadn't gone more than about twenty-feet before the hand grabbed his shoulder again and jerked him to a halt.

'Stay,' the voice said in his ear again. 'Do not move.'

The Doctor bit back the urge to snap, _Stay? I'm not a bloody dog!_ but figured that this was probably not intelligent right now. He remained silent.

A finger prodded him in the chest and the voice said, 'You going to behave? Yes or no?'

'Do I have any other choices?' the Doctor asked before he could stop himself and was rewarded with a sharp smack around the side of the head. It was hard enough to hurt a lot and he inhaled sharply in pain.

'Yes or no!' the voice demanded again, sounding angry now.

'Yes!' the Doctor snapped, adding mentally, _For now, anyway._

'Good.' The voice sounded satisfied and fell silent.

The Doctor listened again, straining his ears to hear something that would tell him whether Rose and Xan were all right. 'You two all right?' he asked in a loud voice, expecting someone to hit him again or prod him with a spear. In fact, someone did both. He was stuck on the side of the head again and a spear jabbed into his ribs this time.

'I'm all right,' Rose said. She sounded breathless and afraid but defiant.

'Yeah, wonderful,' Xan said, sounding thoroughly hacked off.

'Silence!' a voice thundered. 'The prisoners will remain silent!'

'Oh, shut up,' the Doctor heard Xan muttered then heard an angry hiss as someone obvious hit Xan.

There was another long, drawn out silence and then the sound of footsteps. There were low voices, murmuring softly, and then more footsteps.

'Take off the blindfolds,' a new voice, female, said in loud, clear tones.

The Doctor blinked in sudden, startling light as the bag was pulled off of his head. He screwed his eyes shut, trying to get used to the brightness quickly so he could assess their situation more quickly.

It was an astonishing sight.

They were in an immense room that could only be described as a throne room. Except for the rocky, naturally formed ceiling, they might have been standing in the hall of some palace or citadel. The ceiling towered up above their heads, as high as a cathedral ceiling, supported by massive pillars. It was clearly a natural structure, probably formed by an underground waterway that had since dried up and left this astounding space behind. There were no signs that the place had been made by anyone except nature and people had obviously found it and decorated it.

It was beautifully decorated. The ground was still rough and uneven, but in places there were brightly coloured tiles set into the floor and mosaics, even more vivid against the natural colour of the stone. They were like brilliant and beautiful puddles of colour and richness on the dull ground. The walls had similar patterns and these were easier to see. There were lines of bright coloured stones set into the lines and cracks running along the walls, following seams and imperfections in the stone, creating swirls and lines and loops one the grey background. Some of these stones were obviously precious ones and others were ordinary, but beautifully coloured. In places, metal had been used as well, melted down and drawn across the stone so that the molten metal cooled into interesting and mesmerising shapes on the walls.

There were lamps hanging all around, large glass made of the same strange stone that their captors had worn around to give them light in the dark corridors. These lamps were far more exquisitely crafted, and as they were bigger they gave a much better light.

In front of them was a table. It was a massive chunk of stone with carvings and images chiselled into the surface, many of them smoothed away by use and time. There were piles of papers on top of it and another lamp. There were several empty stone chairs positioned around the table, decorated with cushions. These cushions, although they were heavily embroidered, were threadbare and had holes in places. There was an even bigger chair right in front of the table, decorated with even more heavily embroidered cushions, and with jewels and stones blazing all over the arms and the back.

At the first few glances, it was a stunning scene. But the Doctor was used to seeing things how they really were and he could see that the cushions were tattered and the lamps were scratched and cracked. There were jewels missing on the throne, the table had been scuffed and was cracked in places, the entire room was heavy with stone dust and the air was heavy with misery.

He could feel it. The weight of the years weighed down heavier upon this place than the weight of the earth above them and it was dying.

There was a woman sat on the throne in front of them. She was dressed in a slightly ragged blue robe that might once have been very rich, with a pattern of silver and green dragons sewn onto it. She was quite young, not much older than Rose, with very dark hair and even darker eyes. Her gaze, as it looked at them, was direct and defiant. Despite her ragged appearance, it was obvious that she was a leader.

'Kneel before our leader,' one of the men guarding them growled.

The Doctor frowned. 'She isn't our leader,' he observed placidly. 'And to be honest I don't see any reason why we should kneel – '

One of the men kicked him in the back of the knee, sending him crashing forwards onto his knees. Despite himself, the Doctor couldn't suppressed a grunt of pain as he hit the floor. Rose gave a sharp cry as she too was shoved forwards. There was a groan of pain as someone tried the same trick with Xan and a thump as they ended up sprawled on the floor. There was another thump as another guard hit Xan across the shoulders with the staff of their spear. Xan swore at them angrily but was persuaded to also fall onto his knees. The Doctor glanced sideways at him; there was fresh blood running down Xan's face where someone had obviously hit him again and he looked, if possible, even more hacked off than he had before.

'Try to curb your instincts hit everything that hits you,' the Doctor muttered.

'Can't help it,' Xan muttered back. 'Natural reaction.'

The Doctor considered this. 'Fair enough, but try,' he said mildly.

'Okay.'

'Silence!' a guard yelled.

The three of them rolled their eyes at each other.

'Do you mind?' the woman said quietly to the guards. 'I would quite like to speak to these people. You may leave,' she added.

'But, Lady Solia – ' one of the guards protested.

'They are all tied up,' she said reasonably. Her expression had not changed, but her voice grew firmer. 'How much trouble can they cause if they are tied up?'

The Doctor and Rose glanced automatically at Xan who smirked. They glanced back at the woman to see if she or the guards had noticed it. They obviously hadn't, because the guards were leaving. After a few moments, their footsteps had died away and it was only the four people left alone in the massive hall.

After a while, the woman spoke. 'I am the Lady Solia,' she said. 'I am the ruler of the people of Solenistra, this world. All leaders are known only as Solia.'

'Are they, now,' the Doctor said dryly. 'Do you mind if we get up off of the floor? It isn't exactly comfortable.'

'If you like,' Solia said, sounding indifferent. 'Sit down, if you want. Make yourself as comfortable as possible.'

'As possible with our hands tied,' Rose said sourly.

'That is for my protection,' Solia said, as if this should have been obvious.

'Really? Well, so far, we're the ones who have been attacked, kidnapped, dragged here, hit and slapped and tied up and blindfolded,' Rose said sharply.

'That is not my concern,' Solia responded.

'It soon will be,' Rose muttered. 'What exactly did we do to deserve treatment like this?'

'You trespassed.'

'Then take us to the surface and we'll go,' the Doctor said.

'That, I cannot do.' She changed the subject momentarily. 'Who are you all? I have told you my name, but who are you?'

'I'm the Doctor.'

'The Doctor?' she echoed.

'Just the Doctor,' he said cheerfully. 'The three of us are travellers.'

'I'm Rose Tyler,' Rose said.

'Xianfrith Excalda,' Xan said shortly.

The Doctor settled himself as comfortably in a chair as was possible. 'Amazing place, this,' he said conversationally. 'It amazes me that you can live here. You know, oxygen and air circulation and so on. Does this place have a name?'

'We call it Haven,' Solia said.

'Doesn't seem like much of a Haven,' Rose said. 'It's very pretty, but not exactly comfortable to live in, is it?'

'You have seen the surface?' Solia said coolly. 'Compared to most of the planet surface, this is a Haven.'

'How do you survive?' the Doctor asked curiously. 'How do you get food, oxygen here? Water?'

'There are natural water springs,' Solia said. 'We still have a few fertile places on the surface where we grow food and those who made this place habitable, the first who came underground, made it so that we would get fresh air down here. I don't know how. We have lost much knowledge.'

'Yes, that does tend to happen,' the Doctor agreed. 'Can I ask why we've been brought here, Solia? We haven't done you or your people any harm, we're sorry we trespassed, would you mind letting us go now?'

'No,' Solia said.

The Doctor nodded, as if this was what he had expected. 'Why?'

'I can't.'

'Why?' he said, his tone harder this time.

'Because of the prophecy.'

The Doctor stared at her. 'What?'

Solia shifted uncomfortably on her throne. 'Solenistra is dying,' she said. 'You have seen the surface. What little land we can still grow food on grow smaller every year. The water springs are drying up or becoming poisoned. Soon we will have no water left. We will not be able to grow food. The things that we need to survive, food such as vegetables or meat, the plants that we make cloth and thread from, drinkable water, all of these things are running out and quickly. This world is dying.'

'Yes,' the Doctor said with compassion. 'I know. I'm sorry. This world is old – it is coming to the end of its life.'

Solia ignored this. 'Many years ago, most of our people left. But they did not take everyone with them. Some were left behind, forgotten and ignored. They made a life for themselves as best they could on the surface and then underground.'

'And?' the Doctor asked.

'And we have lived in fear and hope ever since.'

'Fear, I understand,' the Doctor said. 'Why the hope? This world is dying, there is no hope that it will survive, I'm sorry to have to say – '

'But you do not understand,' Solia said impatiently. 'Please let me explain. There is a prophecy.'

'Yes?'

'The prophecy has been with us for many, many years now. It says that our world will be saved.'

'There are always such prophecies,' the Doctor said gently. 'It doesn't mean – '

She continued to ignore him. 'The prophecy states that near the end of our world, someone will come and save it, will enable it to live again ad flourish. A man came many years ago and told our people not to despair that they had been left behind, and that one day, when it was almost over, Solenistra would be saved.'

'And has this person come and saved your world?' the Doctor asked, very quiet.

'No,' Solia said. 'There have been those, but none of them have saved us.'

'You think it's us,' Rose said.

'It must be,' Solia said. But she sounded as if she was not actually certain, but her voice said that she was desperate. 'You must be – you are. It is almost the end of our world. You are the only ones who have come to us so close to the end – you must be the ones we were told about.' She gazed levelly at them. 'You must stay and help us.'

'And if we don't want to?' Rose said.

'You can't refuse. You will never find your way out of these caverns without our help. You help us, or you die,' Solia said in tones of finality.

'You don't know that my friends and I are the ones the prophecy has foretold,' the Doctor said quietly. Solia seemed unwilling or unable to grasp this point. His eyes were smouldering dangerously and he was standing very still, his entire body alive with suppressed angry energy.

'No,' Solia agreed softly. 'We don't. But do you think we will take that risk?'

'No, you probably won't,' he said angrily. 'You'll think of yourself above anyone else, won't you?'

'It's called survival,' Solia said mildly. 'Our world will die. Unless someone helps us. Our world is almost dead and so it must be you and your friends who are the ones foretold in the prophecy.'

'That's quite a conclusion you've leapt to,' the Doctor said.

'It's the only one I've got,' Solia said, desperation edging her voice. 'You must help us, or our world will die.'

The Doctor fixed her with his dark, piercing gaze that seemed to cut through flesh and bone and see straight through into the soul.

'Everything dies,' he said.


	4. The Turning Tide

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their original packaging. **

**Chapter Four: The Turning Tide**

There was a very long, icy silence. Rose glanced nervously at the Doctor. He looked perfectly composed and quiet, waiting for Solia's answer.

Rose glanced at Xan. He was looking down at the floor, frowning slightly. There was blood dripping from his wrists where the ropes had been tied too tightly, and more blood on his face, although the cuts had stopped bleeding. Rose was uncomfortable on her stone chair, her own bruises hurting and her wrists hurting quite a lot now. She wondered how the Doctor and Xan could seem to be ignoring their own discomfort so easily. Maybe they were just hiding it better than she was. She debated whether or not to ask Solia if they could be untied, but decided that their comfort was probably nowhere near the top of Solia's list of priorities right now.

Solia stared intently at the Doctor. Her face had gone very pale and her eyes were blazing with fury. She tapped her fingers angrily on the top of the carved table. The Doctor simply stared back at her, refusing to look away and it was Solia whose resolve broke first. She looked away, biting her lip. Somehow, despite being a prisoner and being tied up and sat uncomfortably in an uncomfortable chair, Solia was clearly regarding him as an equal rather than a prisoner.

'You know I'm right,' the Doctor said softly. His eyes were kind as he looked at her.

She shook her head, refusing to meet his eyes. Refusing to admit that he might be right. Refusing to admit defeat.

'Trust me,' he continued in the same gentle tone. 'I can feel it. I've seen a hundred world die, some before their time and others in their old age. I've seen planets torn apart by black holes, burned up by their sun, and frozen when it's died. Solenistra is one of the lucky worlds – it is dying because it's old. Ancient. It's lived a good, long life and now it is coming to its natural end. And I can feel it. I can feel this world's heartbeat slowly faltering. Solenistra is tired, Solia.'

She shook her head again, denying his words.

'Please,' he said quietly. 'Don't hold onto the past, Solia. Get your people to safety before it's too late. I can take you all away from here, find somewhere alive where you can continue to live and grow – '

'There is nowhere for us to go!' she shot back at him. 'Nowhere!'

'There is always somewhere,' the Doctor said calmly. 'You're practically human. I expected your people is all but human, species wise. Humans have an amazing ability to hang onto life, to adapt. You'll survive. Life always finds a way. And a new place would be good for you, instead of hanging onto a way of life that's dead and gone and will soon be buried – '

'The prophecy – ' she began heatedly.

He held up a hand, cutting her off. 'Forget the prophecy, Solia.'

'The prophecy says that our world will be saved and our people will not die!'

'You will be saved,' he said, trying to be patient. 'I will take you somewhere – '

'No! Solenistra will not die!' Solia's voice rose angrily. 'The Storm will come!'

'The Storm?' Rose inquired.

'The Storm,' Solia affirmed. 'That is what the prophecy speaks of. The Storm. It will come to our world.'

'Is that good or bad?' Rose asked.

'It is – difficult to explain,' Solia said after a pause. 'The concept is difficult for even my people to understand and we have kept this prophecy for years – centuries. Even we have difficulty understand exactly what it means. But the part of it that I have explained to you is the clearest part. That is not difficult to understand but the rest, about the storm, is.'

'Things are rarely as difficult as people think they are,' the Doctor said, rather sharply. 'Solia, you seem like an intelligent woman. Why are you hanging onto this prophecy?'

'Why should I listen to you?'

He shook his head in frustration. 'Solia, I am offering you and your people a chance. A chance to live, not to die in some ancient dusty caverns waiting for something that isn't going to happen. Why can't you understand that? I don't need to help you, my friends and I could probably be out of here in a matter of hours if we really put ours minds to it. But I'm here and I'm offering you my help.'

'We do not want help to run away,' Solia replied. 'We need help to save our home. Can you not understand that we want to save our home? It is all we have and we are not going to let it die!'

The Doctor was silent for a moment and Rose knew that he was thinking of his own home, now merely dust and ash. Dead before its time.

With some difficulty, he said, 'Don't imagine for a moment that I don't understand what you're going through. I understand all too well what you – '

'Without our home we are nothing! We will be the lost and dispossessed!'

Despite herself, Rose shivered at those words.

'Home doesn't have to be where you're born or where you're from,' the Doctor said softly. 'Home doesn't have to be fixed in time and space. People can always make new homes – it's one of the amazing things about them.' He sighed. He seemed to be having trouble sticking to his argument about home and moving on to find another because he was a man without a home, without roots, himself one of the lost and dispossessed. But such was his nature, Rose reflected silently. Even when he had had a home, she was pretty certain that he had always been a wanderer at heart.

'It doesn't have to be like this for you,' he said.

'Your world is dying of old age,' Rose said. 'There isn't a cure for old age, across the entire universe, there's no way to reverse that.'

'Yes, there are,' the Doctor muttered. 'But I would not try and put of those ways into actions and I'd make damn sure no one else did either.'

'So you do know a way to help us,' Solia said.

'No,' he said forcefully. 'That is playing with the nature of the universe, the fabric of the universe and I will not let that happen. So understand this, Solia, Solenistra is dying and it will die. You cannot stop this. I will not help you stop it. I am offering you the chance to save yourself and your people. I suggest you take this chance because it's the only one you're going to get. Do you understand?'

'I understand,' Solia said, and gave a smug little smile.

'Don't look at me like that,' the Doctor said irritably. 'I've that look on a thousand different faces, just before it's wiped off their lips for good.'

'I'm sure I don't know what you mean.'

'I'm sure you do. It's a look that says you're confident you're in the right, that I'm an idiot who wouldn't know the truth or reality if it slapped me in the face. Let me tell you something, Solia.'

'Go ahead, Doctor.'

'I've travelled the universe for nine hundred years. I've seen worlds come and go. I know what I'm talking about. I understand these things. Please listen to me. Before it's too late.'

'No. I appreciate that you have made this offer, but I cannot accept it.'

'You're letting your fear about leaving your home control you – ' the Doctor began.

'The turning tide,' Xan said suddenly.

Everyone turned and looked at him. It was the first thing he had said for quite some time. He was frowning, his eyes peculiarly unfocused.

'That's what you're afraid of, really,' he said.

'You don't know what I'm afraid of or not,' she snapped, her body tensing sharply.

He didn't pay any attention to that comment. 'You're afraid of the turning tide,' he stated firmly. He wasn't looking at any of them as he spoke. 'The storm comes and the tide turns and you're going to die and you know it and you're afraid.'

'You know nothing – '

'There's darkness here and it's inside you. You can feel it, can't you Solia? It's consuming you and your world, destroying you and there's nothing you can do about it except cry in the darkness of the night when you think that no one can hear you – '

'Xan, stop,' Rose said urgently.

'Because you're so afraid. Afraid of dying, of being the one who brings your world to an end.'

'Shut up,' Solia said, her eyes darkening with fury and fear.

He didn't. 'I can see it all in your mind, Solia. You want to believe that we can help you, you want to hang onto this prophecy and you want to take the Doctor's offer to get you all to safety. But you don't know what to do and the darkness it telling you something else, isn't it? It says you can afford to wait, to wait for the storm to come and the prophecy to come true. The turning tide is what you fear and you're letting that fear speak to you and guide you without thinking about what you're doing. But you don't actually know which you should do, do you?'

'Shut up,' she whispered.

'Maybe you should leave. Maybe you shouldn't. Maybe there is something in this prophecy, but the darkness is telling you that the tide is turning too fast and you're letting that blind you – '

'Shut up!'

'It's the truth,' Xan said, still very calm. 'You know it's the truth.'

'How do you know this?' she hissed at him, her fingers curling into fists. 'How can you?'

'You shouldn't fear death,' he said, meeting her eyes but ignoring her question. 'You should fear what comes before. When the darkness comes to claim you.'

Solia shrieked and leapt backwards, shoving herself away from the table. She stumbled, trying to get out off the throne and away from them. 'Guards!' she screamed at the top of her voice. 'Take them! Take them to the cells!' Without another look at the three, she spun and fled the hall.

The guards hurried in, grabbing the three prisoners and hauling them out of the great hall.

'Solia!' the Doctor shouted. 'Solia, please, just listen to me!'

'Well done!' Rose snapped at Xan. 'What on earth did you do that for?'

The guards dragged them down the corridor, not particularly gently, and not caring if any of the three stumbled or fell, simply dragging them back onto their feet and physically hauling them along.

'Xan?' Rose said again. But Xan was not saying anything, nor was he even resisting their less than gentle handling by the guards. 'What's wrong with him?' she asked the Doctor.

The Doctor turned and looked at Xan. 'He'll snap out of it in a minute,' he said and then glared at one of the guards. 'We're going!' he snapped. 'There's no need to be quite so rough, we're going to try and escape!'

'Yet,' Rose muttered in a low voice.

The Doctor couldn't resist a smirk. 'Well, that's true, but – '

A door, a large grill of metal bars screwed into the wall, swung open in front of them and, one by one, they were all shoved inside. Someone threw one of the pale light stones on the ground at the Doctor's feet, glared, a terrifying expression with all the dark black and white and grey paint smeared across their face. Then the door was slammed, the key turned in the lock and there was silence.


	5. Think First

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their original packaging.**

**Chapter Five: Think First**

'Tell me,' the Doctor said in a thoughtful tone, 'do you think that could have gone just a little bit better?'

'Maybe a bit?' Rose suggested.

'Leave me alone,' Xan muttered. He was sat in the corner, his knees drawn up to his chest and his forehead resting on his folded arms. He had claimed to have 'a bit of a headache,' which the Doctor did not believe for a minute. By the state of the man, he looked as if he had the mother of all headaches. In fact, he looked as if a bright light would make his head explode. Any sympathetic person would have left the poor boy to sleep it off.

However, the Doctor was not greatly noted for his sympathy. Especially not when he felt that someone had brought their troubles down squarely upon themselves.

'Did you really think it would have helped?' he continued, waving his hands in the air. His glasses were lopsided and his hair had been messed up in the scuffle that had ended with them being shoved in the cells. Coupled with the glasses, it gave him the air of a batty professor.

'No,' Xan said in a muffled voice.

'Then why did you do it?'

'I couldn't help it.'

'He couldn't help it.' The Doctor clenched his hands into his hair and practically wailed, 'He gets us all thrown into the cells and he couldn't help it!'

'Stop acting as if these are the first cells you've ever been in,' Rose told him tartly. 'Just listen to what he has to say, will you?'

'Rose Tyler, you are too sympathetic by half.'

Rose ignored him. 'Xan?' she said, gently touching his arm.

Xan lifted his head and gave the Doctor a glare that would have melted steel. 'Do you always shout like this?' he muttered.

'Sometimes. You have an explaination for yourself?'

Xan shrugged. He looked as if he were still in pain.

The Doctor scowled. 'I see. You're hanging onto your sympathy card for the moment.'

'Just till I don't need it anymore,' Xan mumbled. He screwed his eyes shut and gave a heart-felt groan.

The Doctor sighed and some of his anger apparently evaporated. 'You going to tell us about it?'

'No.'

'Let me reprase that. Tell us about it.'

Xan opened one eye and glared. 'Persistent little bugger, isn't he?' he said to Rose, but his tone was quite mild.

The Doctor shifted his position and crossed his legs. Resting his elbows on his knees, he said, 'Indeed I am. So. Talk.'

Xan didn't say anything. Rose glanced at the Doctor. His expression was unreadable. Not for the first time, she wished she had telepathic abilities. Sometimes it was so damned hard to read his moods, harder to read what he might be thinking. It was doubly annoying now because Xan had the exact same ability, to be able to find what was going on inside his head behind an infuriating mask of blankness.

'You do recall that it's rude to listen in on someone else's thoughts?' the Doctor continued. 'Let alone someone you've only met five minutes ago?'

'You do recall I can't help it?' Xan said wearily.

'Yes. But I don't understand.'

'I don't have the ability to block out. Things just - filter in. I can't control what I hear and what I don't and when someone is broadcasting as loudly as Solia was - it's hard for me to keep my mouth shut.'

'What made you say what she was thinking?' Rose asked.

He shrugged. 'It's like shouting when you're angry, I guess. Let's the pressure off.'

The Doctor didn't seem interested in this. 'Explain. Why can't you control your ability?'

Xan shook his head, wincing as it ached. 'I don't know. Can't we discuss this later?'

'No. Why don't you know?'

'What?'

The Doctor was getting more agitated. He started waving his hands. 'Because it's an innate, natural ability! As you learn to use it, you learn to control it! The control comes with it! Don't tell me you've never been able to control your ability!'

'Maybe he hasn't?' Rose suggsted, trying to defuse the Doctor's mood.

'He'd be dead by now if he couldn't,' the Doctor said.

Xan glared at him.

'You've got some semblance of control otherwise you would have gone mad and dropped dead or killed yourself,' the Doctor said.

Xan didn't reply.

'You will die if you don't deal with this,' the Doctor said in a calmer voice. 'You do realise that, don't you? Eventually you won't be able to hear your own thoughts, just those of everyone around you and it will drive you insane. Then you will die. You won't even know who you are, what you're thinking or what you're doing.' He paused. 'I've seen it happen.' A shadow passed briefly across his face.

'How?' Rose said. 'I thought you said you couldn't understand - because he was born with the ability - '

'I've seen people - acquire - telepathic abilities. Usually in pursuit of power or some such thing. An ability they have no natural ability for and don't have the barriers and control that others learn to use. It's very ugly.' He waited, then said, 'You have to deal with it.'

'I don't know how.'

'I do. I can help.'

'No.'

The Doctor blinked. 'What?'

'I said no.'

'Why not? Do you want to die?'

'No,' Xan said quietly.

'Then let me help.'

'No. I've survived several years. I'm sure I'll survive a few more.'

The Doctor inhaled impatiently. 'I can help. Don' t you trust me?'

Xan stared up at him through pain blurred eyes. 'I don't trust anyone enough to let them poke around inside my head.'

'Then you will eventually go insane and die.'

'I'll worry about that when I get to it.'

For a moment, it looked as if the Doctor was going to argue, then he shook his head angrily and uncrossed his legs, slouching against the wall. He was scowling.

'Can you tell us anything else about Solia?' Rose asked Xan after a few uncomfortable minutes had passed.

'She's terrified,' Xan said. His headache seemed to be gradually fading, because he looked a little less as if someone had wacked him over the head with a shovel. 'Couldn't either of you feel it?'

The Doctor shrugged. 'Of course she was afraid. Her world's ending. Who wouldn't be?'

'No, it was a different kind of fear,' Xan said, frowning. 'There's something else - something different. I don't know what it is, I don't know if she even knows. But there's something here.'

'Something?' Rose said.

'A darkness. Something's changing, the tide is turning and the storm clouds are gathering. That's something she was thinking, it might be part of this prophecy Solia keep talking about.'

'You said she wants to take up my offer,' the Doctor said. 'What's stopping her?'

'Something is confusing her. Something is telling her that the prophecy will come true, then telling her that she's going to die, the that she'll save her world, then that she'll bring about its end. All the same voice, telling her yes and then no, the prophecy will come true, then that it won't. She doesn't know what to think and she doesn't know what to do. She's just holding onto this prophecy because it's solid. She can see it, she can read it, it's something she can hold onto.'

'And you think he's going crazy?' Rose said to the Doctor.

'I think Solia is holding onto her sanity by a thread,' the Doctor said. 'You got all that from her, Xan?'

Xan nodded. 'And a few bits more.'

'Oh? What's that, then?'

Xan gave a weak smile. 'She doesn't like us, but she's tempted to trust us. And she thinks you're very handsome.'

Rose began to laugh. The Doctor frowned and went slightly red. 'That's not funny,' he said crossly.

'It's true,' Xan said. He added, 'And - she doesn't think Solenistra is dying of old age. She believes that something is destroying it.'

'Maybe she has a point?' Rose said, looking at the Doctor to see what he thought.

'Maybe,' was all he said. His frown deepened. 'I don't know anymore.'

'Why? You were adament that the planet is dying - '

'It is. But this is getting stranger, you have admit.' The Doctor got to his feet and started pacing. 'There's something wrong here. I want to find out what it is. Either I was right, in which case Solia is simply going mad from fear, or I'm wrong and there's something else at work here.'

'I thought you were never wrong,' Rose teased.

'I have my moments.' He looked down and across at Xan. 'What do you think?'

'I think I need to sleep before my head explodes,' Xan said bad-temperedly. 'And I think you need to leave me alone before I introduce your head to the wall.' He curled up on his side, his arms pulled over his head. 'Now sod off.'

A flicker of a smile passed across the Doctor's face. He exchanged glances with Rose, who warned, 'Leave him aone. I think he really will bash your head in - '

'Course I will,' Xan said indistinctly. 'Now shut up, both of you.'


	6. Death And Decay Await

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their original packaging.**

**Chapter Six: Death And Decay Await**

It was some time later that a guard brought them some water. Since it had been quite a while since they had eaten or drunk anything, they were glad of the water. Rose woke Xan up so that he could have some; he seemed to have mostly recovered from his hideous headache and was definately less bad-tempered than he had been previously.

The guard waited until they had finished drinking and then informed them, 'Solia wishes to see you again.'

'Maybe we don't wish to see her,' the Doctor said, pausing in his drinking.

'It wasn't a request,' the guard said shortly. Like all the other guards, he wore the painted and patterned clothing and body paint that disguised him in the dark, shadowy passages. Rose found herself wondering what there was, apart from the very occasional traveller, to hide from in these caves. Then she wished she had never thought of that, and made a mental note to ask the Doctor what he thought.

'It so rarely is,' the Doctor said with a sigh. He drained his cup, tossed it on the floor and said, 'You two ready to go?'

Rose nodded; Xan shrugged.

The Doctor looked at the guard and said, 'Yeah, I suppose we're ready.'

'Good.' The guard unlocked the door and gestured for them to move out. Xan gave the Doctor a sharp, questioning look; the Doctor responded with the slightest shake of his head. Xan relaxed and moved silently out of the cell. Rose followed, also glancing quickly at the Doctor, ready to follow his lead.

The guard led them through the passages that they had come through previously. There were several other guards with them who melted in and out of the shadows at random intervals. Rose could only see a few, Xan watched empty spaces that Rose guessed were where other guards were hiding, although she couldn't see them, and the Doctor didn't pay even the ones that were visible any attention. It wasn't long before they were ushered into a room that none of them had seen before.

Solia stood by a representation of a window. It was shaped like a window, a high arch carved out of the stone, and painted onto it was a depiction of a mountainside. From a distance, the painting looked almost real. It was an unusual and beautiful piece of artwork in an otherwise stark and Spartan room. There was not a single other beautiful piece of art, furniture or wall carving in the entire room. It was much smaller than the great hall, with a plain wooden table and a few plain chairs around it. The floor was bare stone and there were bookcases chiselled out of the walls, with books resting in them. They were all plain and dull, with dark and dusty covers. On the table in front of Solia was a wooden case, dark and damaged with age. She sat down as they entered and gestured for them all to sit down as well.

'I wanted to speak to you all again,' she said when they had sat down. 'I was - a little upset before.' She gave Xan a furious look which he studiously ignored. 'But this is too important for me to remain angry. We need to talk.'

'No, you need to listen,' the Doctor said.

'We need to talk,' she repeated. Her fingers were twisting and untwisting; she looked very nervous, maybe more nervous than she should have.

'You need to listen,' the Doctor said again. 'How many times do I have to tell you? This planet is dying and decaying. Leave, whilst you still can.'

'I wanted to explain further,' Solia said. 'As leader of my people, it is my duty to make you understand.'

'I understand,' the Doctor said. 'I seems that you don't. But since we're being reasonable, why don't you explain whatever you want to explain.'

'I had you come here to show you the prophecy,' she said. She pulled the wooden box towards her and opened it. Carefully, Solia removed a book from the case and set it on the table. Gently, she brushed the cover and opened it. 'Here,' she said.

The pages were covered in tiny, intricate writing. Rose had to squint to be able to make out any of the words and after a few moments her eyes started to water. The Doctor leant forwards and examined the pages, pushing his glasses further up his nose to improve his sight. Solia watched him closely.

'What is this?' the Doctor asked intently, not looking away from the page..

'The prophecy,' she said, as if he were stupid.

'What language is this?'

'I'm sorry?'

He tapped the page. 'This isn't any tongue I recognise. And believe me, there's almost none I don't understand.'

'I don't know. The book is ancient - '

The Doctor scrutinised the page, then flicked through the rest of the book quickly. He paused at one page, scanning it quickly. He turned over the page, then turned back to the previous one. 'Tell me, have you read any of this prophecy?'

Solia hesitated. 'I - I cannot read it.'

'Really?' He looked up, a quizzical look on his face. 'Then how do you know what it says?'

Solia flushed. 'There is a translation. At the back.'

He turned to it. 'Oh, yes,' he said without enthusiasm. 'Funny, don't you think?'

'What is?'

'The translation is half a page. But there's an entire book here.' He closed it carefully.

'As you can see,' Solia said, picking up the book and showing him the damaged spine, 'part of the book was damaged many years ago. Most of the translation was torn out. Only the most important section, the summary, was left.'

'I see,' the Doctor said. 'So can you tell me anything?'

'You can read the translation yourself.'

'Yes, but I'd like you to tell me what you think this prophecy says.' His tone brooked no argument.

Solia hesitated, then nodded. 'For many years there have been prophecies about these things. The turning tide. The darkness. The storm.'

'Care to enlighten us?' he asked, a little testily. 'What does all this mean, exactly?'

Xan lifted an eyebrow. 'What kind of storm?' he asked.

'What kind of question is that?' Solia demanded.

'A good one, actually,' the Doctor said. 'Answer it, please.'

'There are many different kinds of storms,' Xan said. 'Weather storms, electrical storms, metaphorical storms, the list goes on. What kind of storm?'

'The prophecy doesn't say,' she said coldly.

'Then it's probably metaphorical.'

'How do you work that out?' the Doctor asked.

'These kind of things usually are.'

'True. Nine hundred years of time and space and I've come across countless prophecies. Most are rubbish. A few have turned out to be real.' The Doctor looked up. 'Do the records say exactly who made this prophecy? By name?'

'Only a traveller, passing through,' she said. 'The Great Healer. He saved our people from a terrible disaster that threatened our world. Then he warned us of the disaster that would befall our people centuries later and told us that he would send aid to us, save us from extinction. When he arrived, he gave us the prophecy, told us to prepare for another disaster. I have already told you this,' she added with a touch of impatience.

'When?'

'What?'

'When will he return?'

'He never said a specific time. But he said he would come in the path of the storm.'

'Introspective,' Xan commented.

'Melodramatic,' the Doctor muttered. He eyed the carvings again, scowled and said, 'I don't suppose you would mind lending me this book?'

Solia hesitated. 'I don't know…'

'I'll return it, in perfect condition,' he assured her.

'I - I don't think so. It's a priceless artifact, I can't risk you damaging it - '

'Fine, whatever,' the Doctor said, finally losing what little of his patience remained. 'Look, this has all been fascinating. But you don't want our help, or rather, you want to sit back and let us get on with helping you whilst you do nothing. You just want to believe this load of rubbish, a few lines in a book that you can't even read. Frankly, I can't be bothered to help someone who won't help themselves. So now we'll bid you farewell and be on our way. You want to come? Fine. Bring all your people with you. That is your choice. But we are leaving.' He walked towards the door.

'You can't leave,' Solia said, quite calm. 'There are guards - '

'Oh, yes.' The Doctor smiled widely. 'Xan, think you can deal with any guards we come across?'

Xan gave a feral grin. 'No problem,' he said.

'Rose, you up for a fight?'

'Count me in,' she said instantly.

The Doctor looked back at Solia. 'No one stops me going where I want and leaving when I want,' he said. 'Least of all you.'

'But you still cannot leave,' Solia said.

'Watch me.' He turned his back on her and strode over to the door.

'You will die,' she said.

He stopped, turned back slowly. 'What's that supposed to mean?' he said.

'All three of you are now poisoned. If you leave, you will die.'

Silently, the Doctor turned a smouldering gaze upon her. Rose recognised that look. It meant trouble.

Finally, he said, 'Please repeat that.'

'You are poisoned,' she repeated. Her face had gone rather pale, but her voice was steady. Rose had to credit her with some nerve. Most people crumbled under the heat of the stare Solia was receiving from the Doctor. 'If you leave or if you refuse to help us, all three of you will die. That is your choice.'


	7. The Depths of Desperation

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their original packaging.**

Thanks for all the reviews; I'm really pleased that people seemed to be liking this!

**Chapter Seven: The Depths Of Desperation**

The Doctor went very still and silent. He didn't looked around, kept his eyes fixed upon Solia's. 'Is she telling the truth?'

'Yes,' Xan said faintly. He looked slightly sick. 'We're all poisoned. It was in the water.'

'Doctor,' Rose said shakily.

Solia folded her shaking hands together. 'You see?' she said. 'Help or die.'

'I am a Time Lord,' the Doctor said quietly. 'We don't die easily.'

'But what about us?' Rose asked, her voice shaking slightly.

The Doctor didn't looked around. 'You and Xan will have been affected, yes.'

'We're going to die?' Rose whispered.

'No. I'm not going to let that happen.' The Doctor turned a furious glare upon Solia who finally quailed. 'What the hell do you think you're doing?' he snarled.

She drew herself up. 'Trying to save my people.'

'You stupid, ignorant little child,' he said softly. 'How dare you? How _dare_ you?'

'I see that you do not understand desperation and the depths that it drive people to - ' she began.

'Don't you take that sanctimonious tone with me,' he cut in. 'You know nothing of desperation, little girl. Stupid, ignorant, arrogant little girl. You have no understand of what you've done and what you are doing - you're blind and worse, you don't know it. How dare you harm us? We have done nothing to you and we owe you nothing! And you attempt to harm, to force us into doing what you want! You selfish, spoilt, arrogant and thoughtless little _bitch!_' He spat the last word out with such venom that Rose actually gasped.

Solia looked as if she were about to cry. 'You don't understand - '

'You're right,' he said tiredly. 'I don't understand why you could possibly think that poisoning someone can help you.'

'I am sorry,' Solia said eventually. 'But I need your help.'

'You _demand_ our help,' he corrected. 'You seem to think you are entitled to it. Now I'm making a demand.' He looked up. 'Cure us.'

'Only if you help me,' Solia said stubbornly.

'Is there any room in your stupid thick head for anything else?' he snapped.

'You don't have much choice,' she reminded him quietly.

He looked at her with loathing and fury.

'Doctor, what'll happen to us if we refuse?' Rose asked tentatively.

'Why don't you tell her?' the Doctor said to Solia.

'The poison is painless,' Solai said with difficulty.

'How considerate of you,' Xan said sarcastically.

Solia gave him a hasty, worried glance, then looked back at Rose. 'It is painless until the end,' she said. 'Then death comes very quickly.'

'How long do we have?' Xan asked abruptly.

'Two days, maybe longer,' she said cautiously. 'Less, perhaps.'

'Does it matter?' Rose asked Xan. 'We're poisoned - '

'I just want to know if I have time to beat the crap out of her,' Xan said, his eyes fixed on Solia and an feral look in his eyes. 'Maybe some violence can persuade her that it's a bad idea to be poisoning people.'

Solia went white.

'Stop it,' the Doctor said absently. 'We'll save the violence for later, when we'll really need it.' He gave Solia a furious scowl. 'All right,' he said, from between gritted teeth. 'I'll help you. If I can. As long as you promise to heal my friends.'

'Once you save us,' she nodded.

'No,' he said as patiently as he could. 'I can't promise that. I can only promise to try.'

'Solenistra must be saved - '

'Shut up and open your ears for once,' he said, still in the same overly patient tone. 'I promise to do what I can, if you will heal them. If I can't save Solenistra, then I will take you and your people somewhere safe, where you can start new lives. And you will heal my friends. That is the bargain I am offering. Do you accept it?'

She hesitated. 'You're trying to make a deal? You don't really have much choice - '

'Neither do you. What's it to be?'

She thought for some time. 'All right,' she said. 'I accept.'

'Why are we here?' Rose said, sprawling on a sofa. 'Not that I'm complaining, but this is a step up from the cells, isn't it?'

'I want to think about this prophecy,' the Doctor said, looking cross. 'I told Solia I'd think and try to work out what I can. I think she thinks I'm just playing for time, but time is exactly what we don't have.' He gave them both concerned looks. 'How are you two feeling?'

'Pretty good,' Rose said. 'Which is a surprise, but there we go.'

'Yeah, fine,' Xan said. He was perched on the edge of a footstool, elbows resting on his knees. 'I assume you're not playing for time - what are we doing here?'

They had been moved into much nicer rooms. There were a couple of beds, which were mattresses on the floor, a large table made from a boulder and chairs with cushions and rugs. It was all very bare and plan, but much more comfortable than the cells. They had been supplied with water and some food which Xan was now picking at, rather cautiously.

'Solia refused to let me take the book,' the Doctor said. 'So we're going to talk about it, see if the three of us can come up with some way to sort this out.'

'So we are going to help them?' Rose said.

'Yes. We don't have any other choice right now.' The Doctor sat down at the table and pulled a sheet of paper out of his coat, along with a biro.

'What did the prophecy say?' Rose asked.

'I couldn't remember much in the time I looked at it.'

'That's not much help. What are you going to do?' she queried.

Xan sighed. 'You want me to pick it out of your head, don't you?'

'Pretty much.' The Doctor gave him a concerned look. 'You don't mind, do you?'

Xan shrugged. 'As long as you promise not to poke around in my head, I don't. If you do, you'll be moping your brain up off the floor.'

The Doctor raised his eyebrows expressively. 'I know a thing or two about telepathy. You might find it harder to liquefy my mind than you think - '

'I wouldn't count on it.'

'Confident, aren't we?'

'I know my abilities.'

'Stop with the masculine competing,' Rose said, cutting the discussion short. 'I want to know what the prophecy is.'

'All right,' the Doctor said. He looked at Xan. 'All right?'

Xan nodded and sat down. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. The Doctor sat down opposite him. 'Keep anything you want to keep hidden behind closed doors,' he warned. 'Anything could slip past - '

'I know how to do this,' Xan said testily, not opening his eyes. 'Now focus on the prophecy - visualise the page it was written on. Keep your mind focused on that. Doesn't matter if you don't remember the exact words - the image, the memory is there.'

The Doctor nodded, he already knew this, also closing his eyes, his forehead creasing in a slight frown of concentration.

Minutes passed. Rose watched first with interest, then gradually growing boredom.

The Doctor's eyes sprang open. 'What the hell did you just do?' he demanded.

Xan opened his eyes. 'What?' he said, looking confused. 'I just restored your memory of the prophecy to an accessible area of your mind - you do remember it now, don't you?'

'Yes.' The Doctor was glaring at him. 'Where did you learn to do that?'

'I was taught,' Xan said, rather shortly.

'Who by?'

'Does it matter?' Xan snapped.

'Yes!'

'Why?'

'Because for someone who lacks the very basics, the very simplest of abilities, you have done a very advance piece of telepathy.' The Doctor waved his hands for emphasis. 'You just picked one single memory out of my head, and placed it somewhere else entirely in my memory. Without touching one single other memory or thought in my head. That takes skill, and training. And yet you lack basic control?'

Xan shrugged, his face taking on a mutinous expression which told the Doctor he had just run up against a brick wall.

'Fine,' he said wearily. 'If and when you want to discuss this, then we can all discuss it. Although I do think you're being stupidly pig-headed, bloody-minded and stubborn - '

'The prophecy?' Rose prompted.

'Oh, yes. The prophecy.' The Doctor began scribbling on the sheet of paper, frowning in concentration as he tried to get every word right. When he finished, he took a look at it and said, 'It's gibberish.'

Rose took the sheet of paper and examined it. 'Weird,' she said.

Xan snatched it off of her and read it. He dropped it on the table. 'We're doomed,' he said.

The Doctor retrieved it and shook his head. 'This sounds like it was written by someone trying to sound like a piece of bad fantasy writing,' he muttered. 'This has got to be a joke.' He cleared his throat and intoned,

_When the last be upon you, travellers shall come from the skies, their number being three. The Great Healer will return and he shall bring the storm in his wake, yet to lead you to safety, to battle the turning tide and to cut down the advancing shadow. Be not afraid, for Solenistra shall not die but shall be rescued from death. Look to the coming of the one Great Healer, the one who dares stand in the path of the storm and who defies its fury._

He shook his head in disgust. 'This is garbage. Someone wrote this as a joke and these pathetic idiots have taken them at their word - '

'Maybe it's meant to be a joke,' Rose said, taking it back.

'What?'

'I don't know - maybe someone, whoever wrote it, thought that if it sounded so absurd someone might actually take a look at it?' She shrugged. 'It certainly caught your attention, didn't it?'

'I wouldn't say that,' he said sourly.

'No, listen,' she said, eagerly. 'Does this sound like any other you've ever heard?'

'Outside of fantasy and bad movies? No.' He shook his head. 'And?'

'Sometimes you're as dense as a lead brick,' she muttered.

'You're suggesting it might be a real prophecy exactly because it doesn't sound like one,' Xan said suddenly. 'That's a really good thought, Rose.'

She grinned at him and turned back to the Doctor. 'Well? Maybe it is. What do you think?'

He rested his chin on his hand and looked thoughtful. 'That's an idea...You're right, my attention was caught by the fact it's so stupid...I'd almost be tempted to think that this was so dumb it couldn't _not_ be real.'

'Isn't that logic for you,' Xan muttered.

'Like you said, it's a thought,' Rose pointed out.

Xan drew the paper towards him and studied it again. 'Come from the skies,' he murmured. 'Great Healer...Healer...storm...turning tide...shadow...' He looked up. 'I got something about shadow from Solia, and it wasn't just this prophecy. She knows about something shadow or something is a shadow.'

'Only something?' Rose said.

'She was too terrified of it to think about it clearly,' Xan said absently. 'Great Healer...' He was frowning deeply. When he didn't add anything else, Rose and the Doctor continued their discussion.

'So, maybe it's a genuine prophecy,' the Doctor said. 'That gives us no clue as to what it's about and certainly not who - and still no idea what this storm is, the shadow or the turning tide. It's a riddle wrapped inside a mystery wrapped inside an enigma wrapped inside a cement block.'

'How poetic you are,' Rose said dryly.

He dropped his head onto the table. 'If we don't work this out and save this bloody planet, you and Xan could die.'

Xan sat up. 'Wait.'

'For what? You two to die?' the Doctor muttered. 'Not a chance.'

'No,' Xan said impatiently. 'I mean, it's obvious.'

Both the Doctor and Rose looked at him. 'What?' they said together.

'It _is_ real,' he said. 'And it's not a prophecy - not exactly. It's more - a piece of history.'

'What?' the Doctor said, incredulously.

'I mean, you time travel, don't you Doctor?'

The Doctor nodded.

'What if you came here years in the past and you warned them? About this storm?' Xan waved a hand impatiently. 'After we've been here, you ended back here sometime and you warned them in their past?'

'I can't do that,' the Doctor said flatly.

'You might have!' Xan exclaimed. 'This man who made the prophecy is obviously you! It has to be. The _Great Healer_?' he added. 'Substitute that for _Doctor._ Plus the time travelling, the coming from the sky, and if anyone would stand in the path of any storm, metaphorical or not, it would be you.' He paused, then said, 'Talk about the bleeding obvious. I think the appropriate colloquial term here is _duh._'

The Doctor laughed weakly and looked at Rose for support.

She was frowning. 'He might have a point,' she said slowly.

'I've got more than a bloody point,' Xan muttered.

'He's right, it does add up,' Rose said to the Doctor. 'At least, the bits that we can _understand_ add up. The rest, I don't know about.'

'We could just be forcing them to add up,' the Doctor said.He looked a little shaken by this unexpected turn of events. 'There's something else.'

'What, then?' Rose asked.

'When I took a look at the prophecy book - '

'You said you couldn't understand it,' she said.

'I couldn't. There's two things that could be the cause of why I couldn't understand it. Either the language it was written was too ancient, long before my time or my people's time, or it's gibberish.'

'Gibberish?'

'I know a thing or two about languages,' the Doctor said. 'It had no recognisable structure, no rhythm, I think it was just a collection of random words.'

'Then the prophecy?' Xan questioned.

'Yes, I could read that,' the Doctor nodded. 'But nothing else. Which is why I wanted to look at the entire book more closely, in case there was sections of the prophecy hidden within the text. A word here, another word there…I've seen it before, it's a clever idea. That might be where the Great Healer,' he glared at Xan, 'got this prophecy from and 'translated' it for them. Or he just made it up.'

'Would you do that?' Rose asked.

He shrugged.

'Of course you would,' she answered herself.

He paused. 'You both really think this Great Healer is, me don't you?'

'In the end, I guess that doesn't really matter,' Rose said. 'After all, you don't know what it is all about yet, do you? Maybe all this was just to make sure that you didn't just give up and wander away.'

'I don't usually come back to a place before I've been there,' he said dubiously.

'We'll worry about later?' Xan suggested. 'The question is, what do we do now?'

The Doctor thought, then said, 'I need to talk to Solia again.'

'You're going to tell her?'

'No, not yet. I think I need to find out a little more about these concepts before we start telling her anymore. She hasn't shown herself to be trustworthy yet. Let's keep a few things to ourselves before we start revealing everything.' He got up and went to the door. 'Hello?' he called.

A couple of guards materialised from around the corner. 'I'd like to see Solia,' he said. Glancing over his shoulder, he said to the other two, 'Will you be all right on your own?'

'We'll take a rest and eat all the food,' Rose assured him.

'All right. Think hard, see if you can come up with anything else.' He gave a quick wave and then the guards led him away to find Solia.


	8. Heart to Heart

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their original packaging.**

**Chapter Eight: Heart To Heart**

'I suppose we should really get some rest,' Xan said, getting up. He sprawled onto one of the small beds. 'Not the most comfortable thing I've ever slept on, but then again, not the most uncomfortable.' He grinned at her. 'Get some sleep. I think we're going to need plenty of rest.'

Rose shook her head. 'I'm not tired.'

He propped himself up on his elbows. 'Something bothering you?'

She shrugged. 'There is something wrong here, isn't there?'

'Well, we've been poisoned, the person who did is going slowly mad, the entire planet is dying and everything is obsessed with this crazy prophecy. Yeah, I think you are right when you say there is _something _wrong. If only we could work out _what_ it was,' he finished sardonically.

'You don't need to be like that,' Rose said mildly. 'I was only saying.'

'Sorry,' he muttered. 'I'm feeling a little tense.'

'The whole telepathy thing getting to you?' she asked sympathetically.

'No, the whole being poisoned thing _was_ getting to me until you mentioned the telepathy thing and now _that's_ getting to me as well. Thank you very much.'

'Sorry.'

'It's all right.' He rubbed his forehead. 'So. You're from Earth.'

'Yeah, London. You ever been to Earth?'

'No. My home's too far and I never had the money or time to take a long space-flight there. I've travelled a bit, but only as far as my work was concerned. Spent some time on the space stations orbiting the planet, which was interesting. How come you ended up travelling with the Doctor, then? If I recall my history correctly, Earth didn't have many known aliens in the twentieth century.'

'It just became public news last Christmas,' she said, smiling at the memory. 'It was a bit weird all that, because the Doctor changed - '

'Changed?'

'He - changed from how he looked when I first started travelling with him,' she explained. 'He said Time Lords can do that - '

He looked fascinated. 'Regeneration? I read somewhere about that, it's a Time Lord ability isn't it? Unique to Time Lords, I think.'

'You know about that?'

'Course I do. I was required to study alien races as part of my job. There wasn't much on Time Lords, though.'

'He's the last one,' she said quietly.

'They were all wiped out during the Time War, I think,' he said, frowning. 'Something about the Daleks - '

'Yeah, them,' Rose said shortly. 'I've met Daleks, don't like them.'

'Never encountered them,' Xan said.

'You're an alien,' she said, changing the subject.

'No, I'm half an alien,' he corrected. 'Hybrid, remember.'

'Was that difficult?'

'On a planet where hybrids are not readily accepted? Course it was.'

'Sorry.'

'Don't be, not your fault.' He gave her a quick smile. 'You got family? The Doctor mentioned your mum - '

'Yeah,' Rose said, smiling. 'They've got a bit of a love-hate relationship at times. I'm sure you'd like her, we pop in every so often, so I'll introduce you next time.'

'Any other family?'

'Not really. My dad died when I was a kid,' she said with a pause that Xan spotted as a raw nerve.

'What about anyone else?' he asked curiously.

She smiled. 'You mean do I have a partner?'

He tilted his head to one side. 'Do you?'

'Yeah, kind of. Mickey. We're a bit on-off at the moment. He's nice, though. He and the Doctor also have a bit of a love-hate relationship. What about you? You got anyone?'

He hesitated. 'No. Not anymore.'

'Anymore?'

'I did have someone,' he said soberly. 'She died. Two years ago.'

Rose looked sympathetic. 'I'm really sorry. What happened?'

'She was on my team in the security. We got a call-out to a situation one night. She was shot down, died on the way to the hospital. I don't really remember exactly what happened because I was seriously injured too. Spent a week in a coma, when I came round they told me she was dead.'

'I'm really sorry,' Rose repeated, not knowing what else to say.

'There hasn't been anyone really important since,' he said reflectively. 'I kind of threw myself into my work after she died and then I got arrested and all that crap, you know about all of that, and I was too busy trying to survive to worry about romance.' He gave her a brief smile and added, 'But that's in the past.'

There was a short silence and Rose felt the need to break it.

'I've been wanting to ask you, what's it like being telepathic?' she asked curiously.

He gave her a funny look. '_You_ are slightly, aren't you? You can understand what people are saying and you don't speak their language - '

'No, that's the TARDIS,' she explained. 'Telepathic field gets inside your head and translates for you.'

'Oh.' He sounded interested. 'Really?'

'Didn't you notice?' she asked, smiling.

'No, because I've always had that ability,' he said, folding his arms behind his head. 'In my case it was telepathic, but most people on Tenarca in my time were fitted with translator chips for the most common languages, which could be updated if a new language was needed.'

'Do you have one?' she said curiously.

'I did,' he replied. 'But by the time I reached adulthood, I didn't need it anymore so it was removed.' He rubbed the back of his neck absently.

'You didn't answer my question. What's it like being telepathic?'

'I could answer that if I hadn't always been telepathic,' he said. 'But I've had the ability since I was born - I don't know any other way of being.'

'Always?'

He nodded. 'I've never really been alone in my head before. I mean, other people can't hear me, unless I want them to, but I can always hear other people's thoughts. Not very clearly, unless I concentrate, or they're broadcasting very loudly, like Solia did. I get occasional thoughts and noises. It's like having music constantly playing in the background.'

'You've never been without that?' she asked. 'That's so strange, because I've always been alone inside my head. The thought of being able to hear what other people think is kind of alien to me. And you've never experienced that?'

'Once,' he said, his expression darkening.

'Once? How do you mean?'

He obviously didn't want to talk about that, because he then said, 'Are you disturbed by the fact that sometimes I know what you're thinking?'

She thought about this. 'You don't go poking around inside my head deliberately, do you?' He shook his head. 'Then no, it just means I'll try not to shout what I'm thinking, if you see what I mean.'

'It can be bloody embarrassing at times,' he added.

Rose laughed. 'When people are thinking about you?'

He nodded, rolling his eyes.

'If people are thinking about you, it must be.'

'There's lots of things that it's embarrassing to overhear,' he muttered. 'And I don't want to hear some of them. On the plus side, it's good for knowing who your friends really are and who's going to stab you in the back. And it's very interesting during sex,' he added in a thoughtful tone.

Rose had just taken a mouthful of water and choked. Xan began to laugh, mostly at the choking but also the fact that her face had turned bright red.

'You were wondering that, weren't you?' he asked.

She ignored the comment.

'Most people do wonder,' he added, grinning at her.

'So you know all this through experience, do you?' she muttered, moping water off her jeans.

'Of course I do,' he said, still grinning. She was still bright red, so he said, 'Let's change the subject, shall we? Unless you want to continue this line of conversation - '

'No, thank you!' she said hastily. She remembered something else that she had been meaning to ask him. 'You told the Doctor you were a slave at fifteen. Why were you a slave?'

He didn't reply and Rose realised that she had touched a nerve. The atmosphere dropped a couple of degrees.

'Why won't you let the Doctor help you out?' she asked and the further dropping of the atmosphere's temperature told her this was also a bad question to ask.

'I've had enough people tampering with my mind,' he said quietly.

'But the Doctor wouldn't hurt you or anything - he could help you - '

'I have my reasons,' he said eventually.

'But - '

'No buts,' Xan said, his voice taking on a warning edge. He rolled over onto his stomach and buried his head in his arms. 'I don't want to talk about it.'


	9. Shadows Are Invisible In Darkness

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their original packaging.**

**Chapter Nine: Shadows Are Invisible In Darkness**

'You're willing to talk now,' Solia said. She didn't bother to hide how smug she was feeling.

The Doctor didn't reply for a moment. Then he said, 'I try to give people chances. You have harmed my friends, attempted to harm me, all to force us into aiding you. I gave you a chance before, to save yourself and your people and you cast it back in my face. Now I'm being forced to give you another chance, but that is all you get. Understand? If you stab us in the back again, the deal is off.'

Solia licked her lips nervously. Her smugness had suddenly evaporated and she looked almost afraid, then she hid it. 'I understand,' she said.

'Good.' He rested his hands on the table. 'Then we had better get started, hadn't we?'

Solia touched the book in front of her. 'With what?'

'Trying to find out what is going on with this planet,' he said with a touch of sharpness. 'Don't you think? Since it's so important to you that you poisoned my friends?'

'Please stop going on about it,' she said, sounding rather bored.

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. 'I'm so sorry,' he said nastily. 'Am I upsetting you? I certainly hope I am because it's less than you deserve!'

She studious ignored this. 'What do you want to do?'

He pulled the paper with the prophecy he had written out on it and unfolded it. 'I think I should start with this,' he said.

Solia stared in obvious surprise at the paper, although she didn't ask about it. 'Very well. Where shall we start with it?'

'Not we,' he said coolly. 'Me. You're just here for me to ask questions about it.'

Her eyes narrowed. 'And your little friends?'

'They're thinking,' he said absently, reading and reading again the prophecy. 'Good minds might work together, but three good minds apart can come up with the same solution and know that we've all come up with it independently which makes it more likely - I think I've misquoted there.' He looked up, thought, shrugged, and said, 'Never mind. My point still stands.'

'You're talking rubbish,' she informed him.

'True, he admitted, taking his glasses our of his jacket pocket. 'It was complete drivel, but there was a point in there somewhere, I'm pretty sure of that.' He pushed the glasses up his nose and sniffed loudly. 'All right. So. We have three travellers from the sky. Okay, I grant that sounds like me and my friends although - ' he held up a cautionary finger, 'I am not saying that we are the people in the prophecy, because that's leading credence to a truly ridiculous theory, even if other people think otherwise.'

Solia folded her arms. 'Your friends think there's something in it, don't they?'

He glowered at her. 'Let's just say that I think there are more rationale explanations, but I am now considering that your prophecy might have a very slight, very small possibility.' He looked irritated. 'All right?'

She smiled smugly and nodded.

'Anyway,' he said crossly. 'The Great Healer will return. Xan thinks it might be me, me being the Doctor, and I think he's got Rose convinced although not me.'

Solia simply watched him, didn't say anything.

'"And he shall bring the storm in his wake"', he muttered, rubbing his forehead. 'Does that mean that he brings the storm or that it simply comes close behind him? Could be either way...I swore, I would never ask you this, but what do you think?'

'It says he will lead us to safety,' she replied. 'I think he simply comes before the storm, I don't think he brings it with him. At least, not deliberately.'

'That's an optimistic approach,' he muttered. 'Unfortunately, I am inclined to agree with you because this planet was going to the dogs long before I got here.' He blinked and shook his head angrily. 'Assuming I am this stupid Great Healer and I'm not saying I am!'

'Of course not,' Solia said with a straight face.

He gave her a suspicious glare and continued. 'The whole "Be not afraid, for Solenistra shall not die but shall be rescued from death" is pretty self-evident, I think. As is the "Look to the coming of the one Great Healer". He shook his head again, in puzzlement this time. 'But "to battle the turning tide and to cut down the advancing shadow"? And I don't get "the one who dares stand in the path of the storm and who defies its fury". That doesn't make sense - ' He stopped. He lifted his eyes and sighed defeated. 'I don't need to understand that bit, do I?' he said miserably. 'That's me all over, isn't it?' He shook his head and rolled his eyes, then proceeded to read the prophecy through again. 'Do you have any idea what the shadow or the turning tide are?'

'No,' she said.

The tone of her voice made him look up sharply. 'You do know,' he said quietly.

'No, I don't,' she replied instantly.

'First, you refuse to shut up about this prophecy and now you're clamming up,' he said, removing his glasses. 'Solia, what do you know?'

She shook her head stubbornly. Her face had paled and she refused to look him in the eye.

'You're afraid to tell me. You weren't afraid to poison us, but now you're afraid. It's that bad, isn't it? This turning tide?' He watched her. 'That's change, we agreed on that, a turning tide means change although not necessarily good change, simple enough. It's this shadow you're afraid of, isn't it?' He saw her shudder and nodded. 'I thought so. What is it, Solia? What is the shadow?'

'I don't know;' she whispered, refusing to look at him.

He observed her, then said, 'I'm going to find out, Solia. I always do.'

Solia shot him a hesitant, frightened look. 'I can't talk about this,' she said very quietly.

'Why?' he demanded. Then stopped.

There was something. He felt a softly cold draught whisper through the room. It didn't come through the door, but from behind him, from the wall. The touch of air, icy cold and sudden, was tainted. He could almost smell the ancient evil in that single breath of wind. Slowly, he turned around.

The wall behind him was solid stone. He stared at it and then turned his intense, piercing gaze upon Solia, one eyebrow raised in a silent question.

Looking terrified, she nodded, barely.

Slowly, he replaced the paper in his pocket and walked over the wall, running a hand over the stone. It was freezing cold to the touch, far colder than any stone should be. It felt like a chunk of ice. Ignoring the pain, he continued to run his hand over the wall until he reached the next corner and felt the stone instantly warm again under his fingers.

'That can't be right,' he said softly.

The filthy breath of air floated past. The Doctor tensed. The stench in the air faded. He pressed a hand to the wall and found that it had resumed a warmer temperature.

'It's gone,' he said.

Solia breathed out a sigh of relief. 'Thank goodness,' she said.

'Are you going to tell me what that was?' he asked. 'You know what it is was, don't you?'

'I know it was this shadow,' she said.

'But you don't know what it is.'

'No. I'm not sure I want to know.'

'It's old,' he said quietly to himself. 'Older than me, older than almost anything I know. I can feel the age in it...That smell...' He shook his head. 'That cold.' He gazed off into the distance. 'It doesn't belong here.'

'Do you know what it is?'

'Not yet,' he replied. 'But I will.'

Solia gave him a funny look. 'You think you'll find out?'

'Yes,' he said confidently and flashed a brilliant smile. 'Trust me, Solia. This shadow is something wrong and it's lodged here, and maybe it is what's been destroying this world. I intend to look into this.'

She returned the smile. 'So, I was right.'

'No!' he snapped. 'You were not right, not to hurt us!' She shrank back and he lowered his voice and said, 'I'm going to go and talk to my friends. If we come up with anything, I will tell you.'

He walked past her, frowning and deep in thought. He walked straight past the guards, totally ignoring them all. They exchanged bewildered glances and looked back at Solia who nodded firmly. They hurried after the Doctor, trying to look as if they were guarding him, but they had to run just to catch him up. Upon reaching the cave-room where the other two were, he strode in and announced, 'We have work to do.'

Xan rolled over and sat up. He was eating something. Rose also sat up from where she had been sprawled across a chair.

'What is it?' she asked, interestedly.

He smiled. 'We got trouble,' he said.

Rose grinned delightedly. 'Great! What we going to do about it?'

He hurled himself into a chair next to her and sighed heavily. 'Not sure yet,' he said, gazing up at the ceiling. He pulled the paper out of his pocket, balled it up and started tossing it from hand to hand, then batted it with one hand and sent it over to Rose who laughed, caught it with one hand and instantly threw it at Xan who picked it out of the air without looking.

'So, you found something,' he said. 'You thinking there might be something in this prophecy, I mean that you're willing to admit to?'

The Doctor frowned at him. 'Yes,' he said after a minute. 'Not sure I'm this Great Healer, no one's got me convinced of that yet, but there's defiantly something on this planet that should not be here.'

'The shadow?' Rose asked.

He nodded.

'You found it?' Xan asked, sounding interested.

'I think so. There was this - breath of air. It stank of darkness, of the dank depths, of something ancient and evil and shouldn't be here. I didn't see it, but it was there.'

'You didn't see it?' Rose asked.

'No. I'm not surprised, I would have been surprised if I had seen it.' He paused and added mysteriously, 'Shadows are invisible in darkness. This must be a perfect place for it to hide.'

'How are we going to get rid of it?' Rose asked.

'I don't know yet. I want to find out something more about it, if I can.' He grinned at them both. 'Ready for trouble?'

'Hell, yeah!' Xan said, grinning.

'Are you kidding?' Rose asked, also grinning.


	10. Behold, The Shadow

-1**Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their original packaging.**

**Chapter Ten: Behold, The Shadow**

'So this is it,' Xan said, crouching down beside the wall. He touched it briefly, winced and rubbed his fingers. 'Cold.' He glanced up at the Doctor. 'It's still there.'

'You feel it?' the Doctor said.

Xan nodded, his nose wrinkling in an expression of distaste. 'I can sense it and I can smell it. Vile.'

'Let me.' Rose brushed her hand against the wall and gasped softly. 'Cold!'

'Must be strong, even you can feel it,' the Doctor said to her.

She glared at him.

'Don't give me that look,' he said, not looking around. 'Humans are so - unaware.'

She continued to glare at him.

'Rose, let it go,' he advised.

'He likes insulting species,' she said to Xan.

'Yes, I know,' he said calmly. He straightened. 'What you planning to do?' He touched the wall again. 'Is it here? It doesn't feel very strong.'

'No,' the Doctor said, running his hands over the wall. 'It's been here a long time, though. It's hiding. It's lurking close by so we can feel it but it isn't coming out just yet.'

'What's it hiding from?'

The Doctor looked up. 'Me.'

Rose gasped suddenly and swayed alarmingly. Xan moved and took her arm, steadying her. She gripped his arms, her face going white and beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

'You all right?' he asked concernedly.

She nodded then shook her head. 'I feel fine - just a bit faint.'

The Doctor and Xan looked at each other. The Doctor was scowling, then he said, 'The poison.'

'Solia said we wouldn't feel any pain,' Rose said to him.

'Solia doesn't know as much as she thinks,' the Doctor replied shortly. He paused and then said to Xan, 'How are you feeling?'

'Fine.'

'Are you all right now?' the Doctor asked Rose.

She nodded, releasing Xan's arm. 'Yes. I think so.'

'You want to like down or anything?'

'No,' Rose said, leaning against the wall and giving him a weak smile. 'I'm okay.'

'We need to get that antidote and soon.' He sighed. 'But first things first, because Solia won't give it to us without a sign of something happening here.'

Xan's expression darkened. 'Something to her liking, you mean.'

The Doctor ignored that. 'I would like you both to leave now,' he said.

Xan stared. 'What?' he said in astonishment.

'Don't pretend to be dense, Xan. You heard me and you know exactly what I meant, so do it. Now.'

'Why?' Xan demanded. 'You asked us to come with you and now you're kicking us out? That's hardly fair and it's very stupid - '

'I want you both outside,' the Doctor said patiently. 'If anything happens, I don't want either of you getting hurt.'

'Screw that,' Xan informed him calmly. 'And screw you too, if you think we're doing that.'

The Doctor glared.

'I'm with Xan on this one,' Rose said. 'What if something happens to you?'

'I'm not - I don't -

'You don't know when to give in,' Xan said. 'We're staying. I reckon if anything does happen, you're going to need us to help you get out of it. Now. Are we going to argue some more about this or are you just going to give in sooner rather than later?'

The Doctor turned a glare upon them both. 'If either of you distract me - ' he warned.

'Yeah, yeah,' Rose said, grinning. 'Get on with it.'

He gave them both withering looks which only made them grin more. Then he stepped up to the wall and touched both hands to it. 'Where are you?' he said aloud. 'Come forward, I bid you show yourself!'

Nothing happened.

'Maybe it's asleep?' Rose suggested dryly.

The Doctor ignored her. He pressed his hands against the wall harder and said, louder this time, 'I know you're there! Come out and show yourself!'

For a few minutes nothing happened. Then they all became aware that the cave was rapidly getting colder, their breath steaming in the icy air. A smell gradually filled the room, thick and heavy, smelling of rotting leaves and blood. Then there was a soft sigh, filling the room, rippling the foul smelling air and a face began to form in the wall. The stone of the wall twisted and buckled, as if something was trying to force its way out. The contours of the rock shifted, melting together and melding until it became a rough, ragged face.

The mouth opened and hissed, the eyes narrowing into furious slits, gaping blackness in the depths.

The Doctor regarded the shadow silently for a minute, then said, 'That isn't your physical form, is it?'

It simply hissed at him.

'I'll take that as a no, then.'

The face in the wall shuddered and jerked, mouth opening and exposing a mouthful of ragged teeth. The Doctor gritted his own teeth and snapped, 'Oh, no you don't!' He closed his eyes and the other two felt the mental force as he pushed the shadow back.

It howled, furious. _Let me go!_

'Not a chance,' the Doctor said hoarsely. There was sweat on his face. He closed his eyes tightly, lines of exertion standing out on his face. He gasped harshly, snarled under his breath and shouted, 'No, damn you! You can't fight me and win!'

The face relaxed into a sulky expression, the lips lowering and covering those menacing teeth.

'I want you to talk to me,' the Doctor said quietly.

The shadow considered him, the eyes dark, intent and terrifying. _Speak._

'Who are you?'

_No one._

'What are you?'

_Shadows._

'Where are you from?'

_Far away. Lost. Alone. Afraid and hungry._

'What is your home called?'

_Don't remember...too long ago..._

'Why are you here?'

_Home now._

'How did you come to be here?'

_Lost. Found home. Dark. Hidden. In the dark._

'Why are you harming this planet? Why are you frightening the people?'

_Hungry. Home. Slaves. _

The Doctor paused. 'I see. You need food, they provide you with food. What food?'

_Slaves. Food._

His mouth twisted in disgust. 'You feed on the people here.'

_Yes._

'What have you been doing to Solia?'

_Human. Food. Slave. Fear feeds._

'You feed on their fear - on Solia's fear. Why her?

_Strong and afraid._

'Why did you hide from me?'

_Strong. _

The Doctor paused. 'You're afraid of me, aren't you?'

There was no answer from the shadow.

'What is your name?'

There was nothing but silence. The face in the wall remained impassive.

'I repeat, what is your name?' he demanded.

_Forgotten._

'You've forgotten your own name?' He shook his head. 'Then you've been here a long time. Why are you destroying the planet now?'

_Sleeping, long time. Awakened. Hungry._

'You know that you're destroying this planet?'

_Everything dies._

'Why would you kill it? You need the planet and the people, what will you do when it's gone?'

_Move on._

'Why are you afraid of me?' he asked again. 'All right, so I'm strong but so are you. Why would you fear me?'

Once again, it refused to answer.

'I think I know. Shall I tell you? The prophecy. You know about the prophecy, don't you? I think you know what it means. Do you?'

There was such a long silence that he thought it was not going to reply at all, and then it finally did.

_Great Healer has returned. The storm comes. The Great Healer returns. The tide turns, the storm comes, the shadow advances. Times of fear, times of death and the storm comes._

'That isn't telling me anything I don't already know.'

_You are him. Stand in the path of the storm. Afraid. Great Healer. Lord of Time._

The Doctor paused. 'How did you know that?'

_We have met._

'When?'

_Long ago._

The Doctor shook his head. 'I'm sure I would have remembered.

_Lord of Time._

He pondered this for some time. 'All right. But what are you doing? There must be enough people here for you to exist, so why drain this planet of life? Why torment Solia? You're driving her mad - why?'

_Existence only. Not enough._

He opened his mouth to retort, then nodded. 'I think I understand. Yes, I think I do. But you can't do this. You can't drive people mad, you can't destroy an entire planet just for what you want. Life doesn't work like that, you can't simply do as you will and damn everyone else - '

_You do._

The Doctor's expression darkened. 'You don't know what you're talking about,' he said heavily.

_Do you?_

'Yes,' he said quietly. 'I do. You can't stay here if you're going to harm this world and its people anymore - '

Meanwhile, Rose and Xan sat beside the door, listening to the conversation. Then Xan looked up sharply. Rose frowned at him as he got to his feet and walked softly to the entrance of the cave. 'I don't believe it,' he said under his breath.

'What is it?' she asked, also getting to her feet. They spoke in very low voices so as not to distract the Doctor.

'That stupid bitch,' he said, scowling. Solia and a group of guards with her. He stepped out into the corridor and blocked Solia's way. 'I don't think so,' he said. 'The Doctor is busy.'

'Doing what?' she demanded, glaring up at him.

'Trying to save your planet, although you don't deserve it,' he said shortly. 'Now go away.'

'The fate of my planet is my business and you are to let me pass,' she said.

'No.'

'My guards will remove you if you do not get out of my way.'

Xan's eyes narrowed. 'Let them try, Solia.' He grinned, and added lazily, 'Cos that's all they're going to do - try.'

'Stop it,' Rose said to him quietly, glancing behind them at the Doctor. 'Please, Solia. He's trying to help.'

'He didn't let me know what he was doing.'

'He doesn't have to,' Xan said.

She cast him an angry glare. 'This is my home, I should know what goes on here - '

'The Doctor is trying to help,' Rose said. 'He's talking to that shadow creature right now - '

'What!' Solia stared and then tried to shove past her. Rose tried to stop her but one of the guards grabbed her and dragged her backwards. Solia then tried to move past Xan who grabbed her easily and pushed her backwards. Another guard tried to grab him. He broke free easily and hit the guard, sending him crashing backwards into the guard behind him.

'Stop it!' Rose yelled, casting a worried glance back into the cave. 'The noise - it's going to distract him!'

Solia shoved Xan again who caught hold of her. 'Stop!' he snapped at her. She screamed furiously at him and tried to hit him in order to get past him. He grabbed her again and she screamed again.

The Doctor spun, distracted. The shadow took the opportunity and roared, fighting to break free. The Doctor turned back, trying to prevent it from freeing itself and escaping. 'No!' he shouted. It simply bellowed, the stone of the wall shaking and swelling and suddenly bursting out of the wall in a spray of stone and darkness. All the light stones in the room went out and the shadow swept through the cave.

Everything descended into chaos. There was stone flying everywhere, people shouting and screaming and panicking in the darkness, the stink of the shadow everywhere.

'Rose!' Xan yelled. 'Are you there?'

'Yes!' she shouted and he heard her voice close to the door. 'Can you get the Doctor? I'll get Solia out!'

'No, leave her here to die,' he muttered, blinking and trying to rub dust out of his eyes, which were adjusting to the darkness. 'Doctor?' he called. 'You okay?'

'Fine,' the Doctor's voice came, sounding angry and deeply tired. 'I'm fine - '

The stench of the shadow lessened and the heavy darkness lifted a little. Then there came an ominous noise from the cave roof. Everyone went still. The noise came again, an echoing cracking noise that was the sound of stone under immense strain.

'The cave is collapsing,' the Doctor said. 'Get out, all of you! Go! I'll be all right!'

'Idiot,' Xan muttered as Rose shouted, 'Not on your life!'

'No - ' the Doctor began. Xan grabbed his arm.

'You think we're going to leave you, you twonk,' Xan said, shaking his head. He hauled the Doctor to his feet and dragged him towards the entrance. 'Hurry up!' he yelled.

The Doctor started to say something but was drowned out as the cave collapsed.

Xan grabbed the Doctor's shoulders and threw them both onto the floor, and rolled desperately, the cave collapsing behind them. They were buried under a shallow fall of fragments of stone.

'Doctor?' Rose called as she dug through the loose fragments of stone.

The Doctor sat up slowly. His head was bleeding badly and he was covered in shallow cuts and grazes. He gave her a weak smile. 'You all right?' he asked. She nodded.

Xan sat up, brushing dust out of his hair and off his face. He looked seriously hacked off, although he nodded when Rose inquired whether or not he was all right. 'No thanks to you,' he said, directing the comment at Solia who ignored him.

The Doctor got to his feet, trying to brush dust off of his jacket and trousers. He was also glaring at Solia. 'You are getting beyond a joke,' he said. She opened her mouth indignantly to protest and he cut her off sharply. 'Shut up. You and your stupidity and stubbornness almost got all of us and you killed. I will tell you when I think you need to know something because you have not yet shown yourself to be either trustworthy or capable of acting sensibly and responsibly and I have no idea how anyone in their right mind would have made someone as stupid and self-obsessed as you leader.' He scowled. 'Go away.'

He stormed past them without waiting for a horrified Solia to respond. Rose and Xan followed him silently.

When they were some way away, Rose said, 'You were a little bit harsh on her.'

'You think so, do you?' he said waspishly. 'She poisoned you, then got us all almost killed. I#m not feeling very kindly towards her at the moment.'

'What else is wrong?' she asked.

He scowled again, then stopped walking, leant against the wall and sighed. He looked utterly exhausted. 'I'm angry because she was stupid and I'm a little bit afraid because it isn't in that room anymore. It lodged itself there and now it's moved. It's moving caused that cave to collapse, so we can assume that it doesn't move very often and it won't want to move again in a hurry. But it's gone and I'd be willing to bet it isn't happy with me. It's going to want me out of its way, I think.'

'What are you going to do?' Rose asked him.

He looked at her. 'I don't know,' he said softly. '_Yet.'_


	11. In Caverns Deep And Darkness Deeper

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their original packaging.**

**Okay, I know I've been really bad with no updating and stuff...I've been very busy! So here you all are - I've put up all my finished chapters in one go, so you can all read the end right now! I hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter Eleven: In Caverns Deeper and Darkness Deeper**

'You have to rest. Or else you're going to fall over backwards, look very stupid and be publicly humiliated and I am not going to help you get up because you'll deserve it for not resting.'

The Doctor glared at Xan. 'You are not helping. And I don't need to rest.'

'Oh, sorry. My mistake. I thought that blood-shot eyes, falling asleep and generally looking like a pile of crap were symptoms of exhaustion.'

The Doctor appealed to Rose. 'Do I look like a pile of crap?'

'Of course not,' she said soothingly. 'Just like you haven't slept for a month. Which means you _do_ look terrible.'

Xan folded his arms and gave the Doctor a smug _'I told you so'_ smirk.

'I am going to go and ask if we can have some food and water,' Rose said. 'We could all do with something, couldn't we?' The two men both made similar non-committal noises. She shook her head in exasperation and exited.

'Why do you do this?' Xan asked him suddenly.

The Doctor paused, raised an eyebrow and said, 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'You travel the breadth of time and space, looking for trouble. Why?'

The Doctor paused, then shrugged. 'Why does anyone do anything? Why did you bother to come with us?'

'Because I didn't have much of a life left and you know that,' Xan replied. There was a short silence and then Xan said, ''You like to ask questions but you don't like to answer them.' He didn't look at the Doctor. 'And you're very good at guarding your thoughts, aren't you?' He scuffed the floor with his foot, his arms folded. 'You're afraid of contact but you never travel alone. You want that contact with intelligant life-forms but you always stop yourself from getting _too_ close.' He finally looked up. 'You're very lonely, aren't you?' he said with immense sympathy.

The Doctor shrugged. 'I'm used to it,' he said.

Xan smiled, rather sadly. 'You don't get used to being lonely,' he said. 'You just learn how to live with it.'

'You're a very perceptive man.'

'I have a unique insight into people,' Xan said, his tone dry.

'Hybrids are still considered outsiders in your time, aren't they?' the Doctor asked, his tone equally dry.

'Humans are beginning to accept us,' Xan replied. 'I would never have got as far as I did if they hadn't. The Amraki never accepted me.' He paused and said with obvious difficulty, 'I met my father three years ago. He told me that if I had been found by the Amraki before I became a respectable citizen, they probably would have killed me.'

'That's - awful,' the Doctor said quietly.

'Yes, isn't it?' Xan said with forced cheerfulness. 'I've lost count of the amount of specist abuse I've suffered over the years.'

'If it makes you feel any better, in the future of Tenarca, that changes,' the Doctor said.

Xan smiled. 'Yes, it does. Make me feel better, I mean.'

'Times always change,' the Doctor continued. 'You knew some Amraki, then?'

'A few.'

'Was it them who tampered with your abilities?'

Xan started and then laughed, bitterly. 'Them? They'd have just wiped my mind and left me a drooling idiot. No, it wasn't them.'

'I thought it might have been,' the Doctor commented. 'Since Amraki are one of the most advanced races when it comes to telepathy and telekinisis - they were notoriously proud and protective of the abilities. You're not telekinetic?'

'Not consciously,' Xan replied. 'The ability comes into play when I'm fighting or something, like a reflex. I have trouble utilising it with conscious thought.'

'Did someone tamper with that ability, too?'

Xan forced a smile. 'I don't really want to talk about this.'

The Doctor saw there was no point in pushing this line of conversation at the moment. 'Fine,' he said mildly. So now they both knew where the boundaries lay and what they each were unprepared to discuss. Although the Doctor was determined never to speak to the hybrid of the war that had destroyed his people, he was equally determined to find out what had happened to Xan to screw up his abilities so badly and what was so terrible that he refused to talk about.

However, his thoughts on this subject and how to approach it were distracted by Rose's return with a tray of food and a jug of water.

'I need to find the shadow and find it soon,' the Doctor said, picking at a piece of bread aimlessly.

'How are you going to find it?' Rose asked curiously, sipping at water.

'Very likely, it'll come and find us. Specifically, it'll come and find me. It knows I'm here, I'm not going anywhere until we face this down and - '

'How do you know that?' she asked.

'I know,' he said, rather shortly.

'How are you going to destroy it?'

He shrugged, dropping the bread on the tray. 'I don't know if I can, yet. Perhaps I can drive it away or imprison it again, but it's cunning. It won't want to go back and it'll fight.'

'Do you think we can trap it?' Xan asked.

'I don't know. But I'm damn well going to see what I can do.'

'Can I do anything?' Rose began then breathed in suddenly, going very pale and swayed slightly.

The Doctor looked worried. 'How are you feeling?' he asked gently.

'Fine,' she said quickly.

Xan lifted an eyebrow and glanced at the Doctor.

'You're not,' the Doctor said.

'I know,' she said. 'But - just hurry up and sort this out, right?' She gave him a weak smile.

He grinned back. 'Business as usual.'

She returned the grin. 'Yeah, business as usual.'

The Doctor glanced up at Xan. 'How are you feeling?'

'Fine,' Xan said, echoing Rose. He gave her a brief look. 'Holding up fine.'

The Doctor gave Rose another concerned look. 'We need to get that antidote off of Solia. Soon. I'll ask her for it.'

'Good luck with that,' Xan said cynically.

'She'll do the right thing in the end,' the Doctor said firmly.

'Yeah, whatever,' Xan muttered.

The Doctor chose to ignore that. 'I'm going to start looking. I think it'll go somewhere dark and abandoned where it thinks I won't find it. Recover a little before it comes looking to finish this. So I'm going to find it before it has a chance to recover its strength. But it won't be too far away - it needs people, it needs to feed on people but too much contact seems to send them mad - look at Solia, definitely an anthill short of a picnic.'

'Too true,' Xan said under his breath.

The other two ignored him.


	12. To Challenge The Ancient And Evil

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their original packaging.**

**Chapter 12: To Challenge The Ancient And Evil**

'No!' Rose said angrily, pushing the next person who tried to shove past her. 'Do you lot want to die, or risk killing everyone!' she demanded, at the top of her voice. 'No? I didn't think so! So get back, all of you!' She sighed, raking her hair out of her face and clenching her fists in it in frustration. She saw Solia stood on the edge of the crowd, scowled and ignored her.

Solia saw the look and smiled. Then she stepped away from the crowd gathering outside the cave and slipped quietly away. Almost no one noticed her go, not even her own guards.

'Get back!' Rose yelled. 'Xan? Some help here! Xan - ' She stopped and realised that he wasn't there. 'Damn it!'

* * *

Xan stepped out in front of Solia. She froze, glanced behind her, and judged that he could probably reach her before she could shout for any guards. 'What do you want?' she demanded.

He smiled. He was leaning against the wall, arms folded, a faint smile on his lips. 'You don't like me very much, do you?' he said mildly.

'No. I don't.'

'Don't blame you,' he said in the same mild tone. 'I don't like me very much sometimes. Like right now.'

She took a step back. 'What do you want?' she repeated.

He straightened and walked towards her. She backed away. He took hold of her arm, gently but firmly and marched her along the corridor. 'We are going to have a little chat,' he said pleasantly, reaching the door of her rooms. 'These are your rooms, aren't they?' he asked, as if he hadn't been hiding in front of them. 'They're very nice. You don't really like them.'

'I would like you to leave,' Solia said, glaring up at him.

'I'd like a lot of things but we don't always get what we want.'

'You're a bastard.'

'Indeed I am,' he agreed and smiled down at her. 'You find me very attractive, don't you? Is that because I'm a bastard? Do you like bastards?'

She yanked her arm away. 'I'd never touch you, you piece of filth!'

'I wouldn't let you,' he said, still smiling with a nasty, brittle edge. 'I don't go with back-stabbers and traitors. But there's an issue here, Solia, and it isn't how physically attractive you find me and how morally repulsive I find you. Actually, it is about that last bit but it had a nice ring to it, didn't it?'

Solia stepped away and treated him to a haughty scowl. 'Get out!' she snapped, pointing an arm at the door.

He stared at her. 'Is that it?' he inquired. 'Come on, darling, you can do better than that.'

Solia hissed furiously between her teeth. 'Get out, you bastard!' she snarled.

'Better, but not much,' he replied, dropping into a chair and treating her to a charming, mocking smile. 'Here's the thing, Solia. You poisoned me and you poisoned my friend. That's reprehensible.'

'You know what that means, do you?' she sneered.

His smile brightened. 'You think I'm a thug with more muscles than brains. That couldn't be further from the truth, Solia. Your actions are sickening. Poison? That's a coward's weapons and don't give me any of that shit about having no other choice. There's always other choices. So I'm giving you another one. The antidote. Give it to me.'

'If I say no?' she challenged.

'You're not going to,' he replied, the smile still playing about his lips.

'I thought you said I had a choice.'

'Yeah, but you don't really,' he said dismissively.

She stared. 'How dare you!'

'See?' he said. 'Now you know how it feels.'

Solia took a step back, drew herself up to her full height and said, 'No.'

'You're making a major mistake,' he said, rising. He was at least a foot taller than her, intimidating although he didn't seem to be trying to be. 'You're assuming that because I'm travelling with the Doctor, I share all his views and opinions. Now, he would never hurt you to get the antidote out of you. That's not his way. He won't lower himself to your level, which is a little lower than a sewer. Me, however, I'm a little different.'

'How is that, then?'

'You're very brave,' he said, sounding impressed. 'You're still holding out. Interesting. Anyway, my point is - you've been screwing us around. I'm not convinced that you're going to give us the antidote even if we get rid of this shadow for you. You're a back-stabbing little bitch and once we've done your dirty work, I reckon you'll just leave us to rot. So I don't intend to take any chances. Give it to me, Solia, or else things get nasty.'

'What are you going to do?' she demanded, her voice shaking a little. Barely, but he heard it, just behind the bravado. And he could feel the fear coming off of her in waves.

'We'll discuss that if you don't give me the antidote,' he said.

'You wouldn't dare.'

'Solia. I can go inside your mind and get that information out of you. I can do it without hurting you, without you even knowing. Or I can through your mind like a chainsaw and leave you dribbling and incapable of a coherent thought for the rest of your life. Or you can just give it to me.' He gave her a charming smile. 'There you go, there's a choice for you.'

She weighed up her options then walked through the door into another room and returned with a bottle. She tossed it to him. He caught it, examined it and smiled.

Then he smashed it against the wall.

Solia jumped, a hand flying to her mouth.

'That's a fake,' he said sweetly.

'No!' she protested.

'I'm telepathic and you're incapable of covering your thoughts. The shadow speaks to you and you're listening, because you don't like me and you'd like to see me dead.' He gestured at the shattered glass and spilled liquid. 'That's more poison. You just can't stop, can you?'

'Shut up!'

He walked over, took her shoulder and shoved her against the wall. 'I killed the last person who screwed me over,' he said conversationally. 'Would you like to be the next one?'

She shook her head, too terrified to say anything.

'Then get the real antidote.'

She shot him a look of pure hatred, left the room again and came back with another bottle. He took it, turned it over in his hand and nodded, putting it in a pocket.

'Thank you,' he said, sounding sincere. 'I'm sorry it had to come to this.' He walked to the door.

'You'll come to a bad end,' she said, her voice dripping with venom. 'I hope it's bloody and I hope it's painful. You may be physically handsome but you have an ugly soul.'

He paused, looked over his shoulder. 'You think? I know,' he said quietly. 'But if you want to see an ugly soul, I suggest you look within, Solia.'

* * *

The Doctor stepped into the cave. 'I found you,' he said aloud. He put his hands into the pockets of his jacket and strolled across the floor. Outwardly, he was the picture of calm and nonchalance. Inwardly, his mind was coiled like a spring.

'You know, I've wondering what you really are,' he said thoughtfully. 'What kind of being were you? Before you were nothing more than a merely a presence? I mean, when you had physical form.'

_Forgotten. Long ago. Go._

'I'm not going anywhere,' the Doctor said, leaning against the wall. 'I am here to stop you.'

_Why?_

'Because someone has to.'

_That is not the answer._

'Not the answer you want, you mean.'

_You are running. _

'What the hell would you know about it?' The Doctor stopped, breathed in and said, 'You know nothing of my reasons for doing anything. Anyway, we're talking about your reasons, not mine.'

_You attack me. I attack you. That is battle._

'Are we battling? I thought we were just talking.'

The shadow snarled.

The Doctor examined his fingernails; a redundant exercise because he actually couldn't see them. He smiled. 'I've had a hundred foes go up against me,' he said. 'You know how many of them are still around?'

_Your petty boasts mean nothing to me._

'They should do.'

_They mean nothing. You mean nothing._

He felt the shadow reach out and touch his mind tentatively and withdrew, battling to keep it out.

_You are strong._

'Thanks,' he said cheerfully. 'So are you.'

_But not strong enough. _

'Who locked you away here?' the Doctor asked curiously. 'You've come from a long way away and I admit, I've never encountered anything quite like you. Similar, I guess, but not as old. Nor as strong. You've been here a long time.' He reached out mentally and before the shadow blocked him off, he found something. 'You were here before any people came, weren't you? Long before. So who locked you away inside the planet? There was no one here to do that and although my people could have done it, if they had they would have recorded it – anyone capable of imprisoning you would have made sure others knew – unless they died in the attempt – ' He paused.

The shadow was laughing at him. It was a hollow, dull sound like a boot heel thumping a coffin lid. It sent shivers down his spine.

_Your people could never have imprisoned me._

'No? You underestimate the Time Lords, shadow.' The Doctor thought quickly. The shadow was still laughing at him.

Then the answer hit him.

'Of course,' he whispered. 'The planet itself locked you up. Solenistra reacted, protecting itself and the people that would come by holding you prisoner – the planet itself fought you and won! Of course, that's why you're laughing at me, because no one did imprison you, only the planet!' He laughed.

The shadow lunged, shattering his mental defences and roaring into his mind with utter savagery, intending to lay waste to his mind.

It ran up against a steel wall.

'Is that the best you can do?' the Doctor asked, sounding amused. 'I let you in last time, just putting up enough of a show of resistance to fool you. And it worked beautifully.'

The shadow howled, realising its mistake. It had revealed the full extent of its strength to its enemy and they both knew that he was indeed the stronger. It screamed and attacked him again. He brushed it aside as if it were a fly bothering him and lifted his hands, resting them on the cave walls around him.

'A little more strength is all it needs,' he said softly. 'It wasn't quite strong enough to cast you out last time; you were both stronger then. The planet could only neutralise the threat you posed. But with my strength – we can get rid of you altogether. Solenistra, heed me and I will aid you – together we can cast this shadow out – '

For a moment he thought it wasn't going to work, that the planet would be too weak and the shadow too strong to do anything.

Then it felt it stir and Solenistra's strength flowed through him and his through the planet. The shadow screamed and fought furiously but it was no good. It was dragged from its hiding place, and cast out, howling and shrieking and fighting all the way.

As it went, it screamed, _I curse you! Never come here again! I will be strong again and I will destroy you! Curse you and damn you!_

'I do not heed the curses of the darkness,' the Doctor said. 'For in the light, the darkness dies', and with that, he left.

* * *

The crowd had calmed down and had all but dispersed since nothing interesting seemed to be happening.

Rose jumped in fright as Xan materialised out of the shadows beside her. She gasped, glared at him and said, 'You mind'

'No,' he said, smirking. 'I have good news.'

'What's that, then?' she demanded. 'You disappear, not bothering to tell me you're going somewhere -'

'Oh, so now I have to tell you everything I do?' he said crossly, then held up a hand to forestall her protests. 'Look, I have good news. You want to hear it or you want to shout at me?'

'Right now I want to give you a clip round the ear,' she muttered.

He rolled his eyes and waved a small bottle with a wax seal at her. 'Look.'

She peered at it. 'What's that?'

'And the award for slowest person on board the TARDIS goes to - ' he said sarcastically. 'It's the antidote, you numbskull.'

Rose opened her mouth to shout at him. 'It is?' she said eventually.

'No, I lied,' he said under his breath. 'Here.' He handed it to her. 'Drink it.'

Rose broke the seal on the bottle, unscrewed the lid and paused. 'What about you?'

'I already had mine,' he said impatiently. 'Hurry up, drink it! We've got stuff to do!'

Rose nodded and drank down the whole bottle. It stung her throat and made her cough. With a faint smile, Xan hit her on the back until she stopped coughing. 'Potent stuff, isn't it?' he said, smiling.

She nodded again, wiping her eyes.

'Come on,' he said cheerfully. 'We've got some arses to kick.'

'Not anymore,' the Doctor's voice came from the cave entrance. He stumbled out, covered in dust and looking weary to the bone. He smiled faintly before sliding down the wall to sit on the floor with a heavy sigh.

'Oh,' Xan said, sounding disappointed. 'I was looking forward to beating someone up.'

The Doctor gave him a frown. 'You really need to work on your anger management issues,' he said.

'No I don't,' Xan said, sounding offended. 'I manage my anger until an issue comes up and then I work on it.'

'That's not quite what I meant.'

'But it works for me.'

The Doctor shook his head in exasperation and turned to Rose in a search for the voice of sanity. 'I need some sleep,' he said, holding out a hand. She took it, pulled him to his feet, and gave him a hug.

'Glad to see you're all right,' she said.

'I didn't get a hug and I saved your life directly,' Xan pointed out. He grinned as she rolled her eyes and gave him a hug as well.

'Now,' the Doctor said. 'I need to sleep.'

Xan rubbed his eyes. 'So do I,' he said. 'Well done, by the way.'

'First we need to get the antidote off of Solia,' the Doctor added.

'Oh, no we don't,' Rose said, smiling. 'Xan already got it off of her. We've had it.'

The Doctor turned and gave Xan a slow, piercing look. Xan didn't even blink. 'How did you manage that?' he asked quietly.

'Persuasion,' Xan said blandly.

'Persuasion?'

'Yes.'

The Doctor glared. 'Did you hurt her?'

'No.'

The Doctor relaxed. 'Good.' He added warningly, 'We'll talk about this later.'

'I'm sure we will.'

The Doctor gave him another suspicious look and then continued, 'But sleep comes first. Or else I'm going to sleep right here and lie in everyone's way and nothing will get me to move until I've had a good eight hours.'

'I think we've all earned a few hours sleep,' Rose agreed. 'That's the least Solia can give us, considering everything we've done for her.'

'True,' Xan said. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. 'I could sleep for a week.'

They made their way back along the corridor to where their rooms were. No one came looking for them and the few guards they saw went walking hurriedly back the way they had come. Reaching the room, Xan instantly claimed the sofa and collapsed onto it, rolling onto his side and closing his eyes. The other two rolled their eyes at each other.

'All in all, not a one hundred percent successful trip,' the Doctor observed, dropping into a chair with a sigh.

'We all got out alive, didn't we?' Rose said, leaning back in her chair.

'I get the impression the people aren't exactly happy with us.'

'We did what they wanted, or as close as we possibly could. What more could they want?'

'I think we offended Solia too much,' the Doctor replied. 'And I want to know what Xan said to her to get her to give him the antidote, because I sure as hell didn't get anywhere trying to persuade her.'

'Maybe he's a bit more - forceful than you,' she suggested.

'Violent, more like,' the Doctor muttered. 'You have issues,' he said, addressing this comment to Xan who ignored them both. 'Serious issues,' he said in a loud voice which was again ignored.

'Are we just going to go without telling Solia?' Rose asked.

'She's unlikely to thank us,' the Doctor said. He sighed. 'Well, I was never in this for the gratitude, or the fame and money.'

'That's good, because there isn't any,' Rose said, smiling.

'Shall we go?' the Doctor said suddenly. 'I don't really want to stay here. I'd rather take the TARDIS somewhere safe, and rest there. Maybe you'd like to go and see your mum?'

Rose looked delighted. 'Could we? She gets worried if she doesn't see us for some time.'

'We can introduce her to Xan,' the Doctor added, grinning. 'He won't know what hit him. You want to meet Rose's mum, Xan?'

Xan didn't reply, his eyes closed.

The Doctor got up. 'What have you done that means you're sleeping?' he demanded. 'I did all the hard work - ' He prodded Xan in the shoulder, hard. Xan rolled over slightly. His skin was very pale and cold, his breathing shallow and ragged. The Doctor stopped and crouched down, shaking Xan's shoulder urgently. 'Xan? Xan, wake up!' Xan didn't respond, but a thin trickle of blood ran from his nose.

'What's wrong with him?' Rose said, concerned, looking over his shoulder.

The Doctor looked up at her. 'I thought you said he'd taken it!' he said accusingly.

'He told me he had!'

The Doctor got to his feet. 'I'm going to find Solia,' he said grimly, running out the door, calling as he went, 'Look after him! I'll be back, just make sure he doesn't die!'

He raced out of the cave, down the corridors, crashing into guards and ignoring their angry shouts, until he ended up in Solia's cave. She was there, looking startled at his presence.

'Give me the antidote,' he snapped, forcing the words out as he dragged in air.

She paused. 'Your little friend already took it,' she said coldly.

'My other little friend hasn't,' he said. 'And I swear Solia, if you don't uphold your end of the bargain, you will be very, very sorry. Understand? Now give it to me!'

'The blue eyed bastard had his,' she said, picking up a bottle and throwing it at him. 'Some people can be very selfish, can't they?'

'Some people like you, you mean?' he shot back, then paused. 'I don't have time for this. See, Xan gave the antidote you gave him to Rose. He's dying. Not everyone has the same idea of morals as you do.'

He left her staring after him in astonishment and took off down the corridor again, racing past the same guards and finally making his way back to the cave.

'He still alive?' he gasped, half-falling through the door.

'I think so,' Rose said.

The Doctor broke the bottle open. 'Hold his head,' he instructed. Rose did so and the Doctor forced the contents of the bottle down Xan's throat.

'You think we're in time?' Rose asked him. She sounded frightened.

'I don't know,' the Doctor said.

Xan's breathing slowed abruptly and stopped.

'Damn!' the Doctor swore.

Rose shoved him out of the way, leaning over Xan. She bent down and pressed her mouth against his and forced air into his lungs, again and again and again. 'Come on,' she whispered between breaths. 'Come on, Xan! Please don't die!'


	13. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their original packaging.**

**Chapter Thirteen: Epilogue**

Xan opened his eyes. His head was aching. He tried to sit up, failed and collapsed back again with a groan.

'Awake, I see.'

He blinked, clearing his eyes and this time sat up slowly, taking a look around. He was lying on a sofa in one of the caves. Someone had thrown a blanket over him. The Doctor was stood beside the door, his arms folded and his expression unreadable.

'It would appear so,' Xan said carefully, touching his head cautiously as if he was afraid it would explode. 'Is that a problem?' he asked with a touch of sarcasm.

'Back to normal, I see,' the Doctor muttered, referring to the sarcasm. 'So what was that? A gesture of heroism, worthy but ultimately bloody stupid? Or did you just forget you were poisoned too? Maybe your memory is as flawed as your thinking? Maybe an act of bravery, you thought?'

Xan blinked. 'What?'

'You almost died,' the Doctor said conversationally. 'Had Rose in a fearful state, you did. We were all running around, expecting you to drop dead at any moment. So? An act of stupidity, forgetfulness, bravery or all the above?'

'None,' Xan replied irritably. 'It was an act of self-preservation, actually.'

Now it was the Doctor's turn to be confused. 'What?'

Xan gave him a lopsided grin. 'You're not mad at me at all. You're just telling me off to make Rose feel better.'

'What's that supposed to mean? And what are you on about self-preservation for?'

'Rose feels bad because I gave her the antidote Solia gave me. Solia only gave me enough to cure me, and she didn't realise I got that out of her head. But Rose feels awful and you're shouting at me so she doesn't feel quite so guilty because then it's all my fault. But you're actually relieved I did what I did, because you're not sure Rose would have survived as long as I did.'

'And the self-preservation?'

'You would have probably killed me yourself if I had saved myself and let her die.'

The Doctor didn't answer that for some time. Then he said, 'Damn you, telepath.'

Xan stood up slowly. 'Oh, that had nothing to do with telepathy,' he said easily.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows.

'It had everything to do with observation.' He grinned. 'I don't rely solely on telepathy to understand people, you know.'

The Doctor was saved from answering by Rose walking in.

'You're awake!' she said delightedly, giving Xan a hug. 'You're an idiot, you know that!' she added with a touch of anger.

'Yeah, I am,' he said cheerfully.

'Did you shout at him?' she asked the Doctor sharply.

'He did,' Xan interrupted. 'Please spare me another lecture, Rose, I don't think I could cope with it.'

'All right.' She gave him another hug. 'I'm glad you didn't die, though.'

'So am I,' Xan replied. He gave the Doctor a meaningful look. _So we understand each other, do we?_

The Doctor smiled slightly and nodded, indicating that yes, at this moment, they did understand each other.

'Are we ready to go?' Rose asked.

'Yes, I think so,' the Doctor said. 'I'm a little tired of caves, myself.'

'Oh, definitely,' Rose said.

'Then the feeling is unanimous,' Xan said. 'Let's go to an open-air bar and get blind drunk.'

'I'm up for that,' Rose said. 'Doctor?'

'Me too,' he said. 'Come on, children. The people have decided to leave us alone, so they dropped us off in a cave near the surface, so we'll be able to find the way out by ourselves.'

'Are they just leaving us to go?' Xan said, surprised. 'What happened to gratitude?'

'Died a long and painful death,' the Doctor said morbidly. 'Don't let it bother you, let's just go and find that bar, shall we?'

They made their way through the caves, finding their way quickly to the surface. There they were met with a huge surprise. There were plants springing up on the planet's previously barren and acrid surface. Small plants, some no more than the merest shoots of green, but alive and growing. There were some insects as well, a few butterflies and some flies floating around the air and ants creeping over the ground.

'It's living again,' the Doctor said, smiling. 'The damage will take years to repairs, but Solenistra is living again, not dying any longer.' His smile widened. 'Seems it wasn't dying of old age after all. You have no idea how happy that makes me.'

'You were wrong, then,' Rose said slyly. '_You_ were wrong.'

He scowled. 'Don't push it.'

She grinned.

'What did you do?' Xan asked him.

'I imprisoned it,' he replied. 'Back inside the depths of the planet. I warned the people not go there again, because it feeds upon them. Maybe it'll starve down there.'

'The prophecy came true, in the end,' Rose said.

'Not entirely,' the Doctor replied, his smile fading. 'I don't think this is all over. I think it was just a prelude to the real storm and the real challenge. _The storm still comes._'

Rose and Xan looked at each other.

'I think you're right,' she said quietly.

Xan nodded. 'Me too.'

The Doctor smiled at them. 'Yes.' They all stood together for a moment, silently considering the possible future.

Then the Doctor brightened and said, 'But that's another job for another day. Where shall we go next?'

'That bar,' Xan said decidedly. 'After all that excitement, I need a drink. Several drinks.'

'Drinks it is,' the Doctor said. 'Let's go!'

* * *

**Note: Watch this space for the next instalment of _The Storm _Trilogy! I'm working on it right now!**


End file.
